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hallsp · 6 years

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The Case against the Catholic Church

In his recent address to Pope Francis in Dublin Castle, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar stated that:

Magdalene Laundries, mother and baby homes, industrial schools, illegal adoptions, and clerical child abuse, are stains on our state, our society and also the church.

Ultimately, though, it must be viewed primarily as a stain on the church.

The Church in Ireland gradually gained in power after emancipation in 1829, becoming almost omnipotent in its control of social policy after independence in 1922. If not genuinely pious themselves, such was the extent of Church power among the people, politicians were careful to show, at least outwardly, a subservient devotion to the Church.

The old unionist concern that Home Rule meant Rome Rule was not entirely unfounded. Our constitution, Bunreacht na hÉireann, which was written in 1937, defined the state as explicitly secular, and, quite remarkably, provided recognition to the “Jewish congregations,” then under increasing attack in Europe. Nevertheless, the Catholic Church had inordinate influence on social policy.

This was the case from the foundation of the Free State, and would drive a wedge into the midst of the nation, to paraphrase W. B. Yeats. A 1925 prohibition on divorce prompted Yeats, then a senator in Seanad Éireann, to give an impressive speech:

I think it is tragic that within three years of this country gaining its independence we should be discussing a measure which a minority of this nation considers to be grossly oppressive.

The Church’s teachings on sexual morality, contraception, homosexuality, censorship, and divorce were woven directly into law, and at the urging of the Church.

When the inter-party government came to power in 1948, Taoiseach John A. Costello sent a telegram to Pope Pius XII:

On the occasion of our assumption of office, and of the first Cabinet meeting, my colleagues and myself desire to repose at the feet of Your Holiness the assurance of our filial loyalty and our devotion to your August Person, as well as our firm resolve to be guided in all our work by the teaching of Christ, and to strive for the attainment of social order in Ireland based on Christian principles.

He was obstinate on this issue. In 1949, for example, Costello and all the Catholic members of government, except Dr. Noel Browne, remained outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin during the funeral of President Douglas Hyde. Catholics at this time were not permitted to enter Protestant houses of worship.

In the 1950s, when the government attempted to introduce a basic form of “socialised” medicine for mothers and their children up to sixteen years, the “controversial” Mother and Child Scheme, it led directly to the collapse of government. The Catholic Church viewed the scheme as contrary to Catholic social teaching. The lesson here was that, even when the state did try to wrestle back some control over social services, it was going to be blocked.

In the wake of this scandal, which witnessed overt interference from the Catholic Church in the affairs of a supposedly secular state, and following the resignation of the courageous Dr. Noel Browne, then Minister of Health, Taoiseach John A. Costello was bold enough to state:

I am an Irishman second, I am Catholic first, and I accept without qualification in all respects the teaching of the hierarchy and the church to which I belong.

This is quite shocking now, but perfectly in keeping with being a Catholic at this period of time.

Indeed, Martin Luther King Sr., a Baptist pastor and the father of the great civil rights leader, could not bring himself to support John F. Kennedy in the presidential race of 1960 solely because he was a Catholic.

Kennedy eventually settled this matter once and for all in a brilliant speech to an antagonistic audience, all members of the Protestant Greater Houston Ministerial Association. He gave, in essence, a complete repudiation of the position taken by John A. Costello.

I believe in an America where the separation of church and state is absolute; where no Catholic prelate would tell the President -- should he be Catholic -- how to act, and no Protestant minister would tell his parishioners for whom to vote; where no church or church school is granted any public funds or political preference, and where no man is denied public office merely because his religion differs from the President who might appoint him, or the people who might elect him.

He continued:

I do not speak for my church on public matters; and the church does not speak for me. Whatever issue may come before me as President, if I should be elected, on birth control, divorce, censorship, gambling or any other subject, I will make my decision in accordance with these views -- in accordance with what my conscience tells me to be in the national interest, and without regard to outside religious pressure or dictates. And no power or threat of punishment could cause me to decide otherwise.

This attitude was quite contrary to Catholic teaching, however. Fr. John Courtney Murray, S.J., probably America’s foremost Catholic political thinker wrote: “To make religion merely a private matter was idiocy.”

Pius IX’s Syllabus of Errors, which had been published in 1869, officially rejected the concept of church and state separation, condemned modern liberal civilization, and the idea that human reason ought to be applied in searching for the truths of religion.

The attitude of the Church to lay people, including government leaders, is best understood by reference to Vehementer Nos, the 1906 encyclical response of Pope Pius X to the declaration of separation of church and state in France:

The Scripture teaches us, and the tradition of the Fathers confirms the teaching, that the Church is the mystical body of Christ, ruled by the Pastors and Doctors - a society of men containing within its own fold chiefs who have full and perfect powers for ruling, teaching and judging. It follows that the Church is essentially an unequal society, that is, a society comprising two categories of persons, the Pastors and the flock, those who occupy a rank in the different degrees of the hierarchy and the multitude of the faithful. So distinct are these categories that with the pastoral body only rests the necessary right and authority for promoting the end of the society and directing all its members towards that end; the one duty of the multitude is to allow themselves to be led, and, like a docile flock, to follow the Pastors.

Like a docile flock, follow the Pastors! Roma locuta est, causa finita est. That is what was demanded of a faithful Catholic.

Remember also that it was because of disobedience that sin entered into the world in the first place, and the whole edifice of Catholic teaching rests on the coming of the Son of God to atone for that original sin.

Children ought to be obedient to their parents, wives to their husbands (”Wives, submit to your husbands, as to the Lord”). Lay people ought to be obedient to Church, priests to Bishops, and all looking to Rome. What mattered was obedience. Obedience to authority. Obedience to Church hierarchy. Obedience, obedience, obedience.

Who, ultimately, then, was to blame for the guilt associated with human sexuality, and the stigma of sex outside of marriage? Who was it that deemed birth control anathema? Indeed, who was to blame for unmarried mothers being put into homes? Who was to blame for forced adoptions, immoral and often illegal, to good Catholic homes in the US? Who was to blame for Magdalene Laundries? Who was to blame for scandalous attitudes towards divorce? Who was to blame for the institutional cover-up, if not the perpetration, of child rape and torture?

I ask you: where did Irish people source their moral framework if not entirely from Holy Mother Church? It’s only now, when we’ve thrown off the yoke of Catholic morality, that we can truly see the error of our ways.

Certainly, the people and the state share in some portion of the blame, but the lion’s share ought to go to the Catholic Church, its social teachings, its doctrines, and its demand for unquestioning obedience.

Lastly, and this is an important point, when it came time to acknowledge all of these faults, the state did so. It set up multiple commissions of investigation. It established redress schemes. It passed laws, including mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse.

The Church, and other religious institutions, on the other hand, refuse to fully come to terms with what has happened, have hindered investigations, have sought indemnity from prosecution, have negotiated reduced compensation deals which have yet to be paid in full, and have not yet implemented changes to canon law to protect children’s safety worldwide.

Yes, the Catholic Church has much to answer for in this mess.

#catholic #church #abuse #scandal #adoption #mother #baby #ireland

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hawtsee · 6 years

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No more X cases, C cases, Miss Ys or Miss A, Miss B, or Miss C.

The full text of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s speech from last night, because I still can’t believe that a Fine Gael Taoiseach gave this speech, using such compassionate pro-choice language.

“This evening, the Cabinet gave formal approval to the holding of a referendum on abortion which will be held in late May or early June this year. We will know the exact date following a debate and vote in the Dáil and Seanad, and I am confident this timeline can be met.

The Minister for Health has been given approval to prepare a Referendum Bill to amend the Constitution. It will be the 36th amendment to the Constitution.

I want to thank the Citizens Assembly and the All-party Committee for the work they did to bring us to this point. Their advice and guidance has been invaluable.

We know that thousands of Irish women - women from every single county in Ireland - go abroad for abortions every year.

We know that many women are obtaining abortion pills through the post to end their pregnancies, without any medical support, or counselling, or supervision.

So, we already have abortion in Ireland but it is unsafe, unregulated and unlawful. We cannot continue to export our problems and import our solutions.

As Taoiseach - as a medical doctor - and as a former Minister for Health - I do not believe we can continue with a situation where women in crisis are risking their lives through the use of unregulated medicines.

I do not believe that the Constitution is the place for making absolute statements about medical, moral, and legal issues. An issue that is not black and white can never be explained in black and white.

I believe this is a decision about whether we want to continue to stigmatise and criminalise our sisters, our co-workers, and our friends. Or whether we are prepared to make a collective act of leadership to show empathy and compassion.

The amendment, if approved by the people, will delete article 40.3.3 in its entirety and remove the effective constitutional ban on abortion from Bunreacht na hÉireann.

It will repeal the Eighth Amendment and the 13th and 14th amendments which are linked to it.

It will also insert a new clause into our Constitution confirming that the Oireachtas may provide for the termination of pregnancies in accordance with law.

This is being done on the advice of the Attorney General, and will assure us that the Oireachtas has the power to legislate, and to balance any rights or interests, without preventing or restricting access to the courts on a point of law.

The Minister for Health will prepare a General Scheme of a Bill to regulate abortion which will come back to Cabinet for approval. This detailed General Scheme will be published prior to the Referendum and will be in line with the recommendations of the All-Party Committee. However, it cannot become law and will not be debated in the Oireachtas until the Referendum is approved.

So, it is important to say that the Referendum will not be on the draft legislation. The Referendum will be on the amendment to the Constitution.

If the amendment is approved in a Referendum, abortion in Ireland will become safe, legal and rare, in the situations provided for by the Oireachtas. If the referendum is defeated, the law will remain as it is now.

I know this will be a difficult decision for the Irish people to make. It is a very personal and private issue. For most of us, it’s not a black and white issue; it’s one that is grey. A balance between the rights of a pregnant woman and the foetus or unborn. It’s a matter for people to make their own decision based on the evidence they hear, compassion, and empathy. I want the debate to respectful on all sides, and should never be personalised.

However difficult, I believe the time has come to allow the people to make this decision. The question has to be a Yes or No one: do we reform our abortion laws or do we leave them as they are?

For my part, I will advocate for a Yes vote. My own views have evolved over time. Life experience does that.

It was as Minister for Health that I became convinced that abortion had no place in our Constitution. While I was not involved in either case directly, as Minister I was fully briefed on two significant cases. The first was that of Miss Y, an asylum-seeker, who was turned back from an English port when she sought to travel there for a termination. She subsequently became distraught, went on hunger strike, and became suicidal.

The second was the heartbreaking case of a woman who was clinically dead but on life support while the baby she was carrying remained alive for a time.

These cases should have been matters for the women concerned, their next of kin, and their doctors. Both were decided in the Courts due to the 8th amendment. Doctors seeking advice on what to do in difficult situations should refer to clinical guidelines, not to Bunreacht na hÉireann.

That’s why I called for change in the Dáil in December 2014. I believed we could no longer approach the issue with cold certainty but needed to do so with compassion.

On the matter of 12 weeks, as proposed by the All-Party Committee, people will have to make up their own minds, based on the evidence and their own conscience. In making my decision to support it, I listened to the views of others - medical experts, the public, my party and ministers, friends.

Above all, I listened to women. I had to think long and hard about the provision for abortion without a specific indication in the first 12 weeks. However the all-party committee has rightly pointed out the impossibility of requiring women to establish that their pregnancy was as a result of rape or incest. If we attempt to do so, we make them victims for a second time.

They also identified the fact that nearly two thousand women every year take the abortion pill on this island and that they do so without any medical advice or supervision. This is sure to result in another tragedy, another young woman losing her life, sooner or later.

If the referendum is approved by the Irish people, a doctor-led, safe and legal system for the termination of pregnancies will be introduced. There will be restrictions.

The pill which brings on miscarriage in early pregnancy will not be available on demand over the counter of a pharmacy or anywhere else. It will only be prescribed by a doctor who is on the specialist register.

Doctors will discuss with their patient the pros and cons of this option in a crisis pregnancy, other options, and offer counselling and other supports. Ultimately though, it will be the woman’s decision.

After 12 weeks’ gestation, abortion will only be allowed in exceptional circumstances such as a serious risk to the life or health of the woman or in the event of a fatal foetal abnormality. Ultimately, it will be a decision based on the wishes of the woman concerned and the best available medical evidence.

Safe, legal and rare.

No longer an article of our Constitution, but rather a private and personal matter for women and doctors.

No more X cases, C cases, Miss Ys or Miss A, Miss B, or Miss C.

In recent weeks many people, mainly men, have spoken about the personal journeys they have been on. But we should remember that the saddest and loneliest journey is made by the Irish women who travel to other countries in their thousands to end their pregnancies.

These journeys do not have to happen, and that can change.

That’s now in our hands.”

#repeal the 8th #Leo Varadkar #A real Irish solution to an Irish problem

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samcheree · 4 years

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A Language Autobiography of Samantha Arnold

Author Note

Samantha C. Arnold, English Major of University of Maryland Global Campus. This paper was required as a final project for ANTH 346 7380 Anthropology of Language and Communication and had no financial backings.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Samantha C. Arnold Contact: [email protected]

A Language Autobiography of Samantha Arnold

Introduction

According to the Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia “English belongs to the Anglo-Frisian group within the western branch of the Germanic Languages, a subfamily of the Indo-European Languages.” (1). There are different dialects of English even within America. As a child I learned American English with a series of dialects reflecting my families background. The purpose of this research paper is to create an ethnographic autobiography of my Language. In order to fully describe my experience with Language this contains the following sections: Family Languages, Language Learning, Speech Communities, Written Language, and Cultural Importance & Socio-Economic Impact,

Family Languages

The four adults most responsible for my language learning were my Father, Mother, Maternal Grandmother, and Speech Therapist. My speech therapist was from Maine and had a slight accent, my focus with her was pronouncing the sound associated with the letter “R” in English or, the phoneme /r/ which is pronounced [ɹ]. Which was difficult for me to form as I was exposed to such different ways of speaking as a child. My Father was raised in Kentucky and has a slightly southern accent. My Mother was raised in Maryland and has a range of dialects she consistently codeswitches between including formal English, Southern, and Baltimore City based slang. My Grandmother was raised in California as was her Mother. However, her Father was raised in Ireland and spoke both English and Gaeilge, the Irish term for Irish, as a child. “Article 8 of the Constitution of Ireland (Irish: Bunreacht na héireann) of 1937 Irish is the first language of the country, with English fulfilling a supplementary function.” (Hickey, 1). Irish is a vital part of my Great-Grandfather’s cultural identity but it was not passed onto through the family.

Language Learning

While Interviewing my Mother and Grandmother I was able to gather vital information regarding my experience with early language learning. According to these interviews I was spoken to without the use of baby talk by my mother and exposed to the Radio from birth. My other family members did use baby talk. At 7 months pregnant my mother began reading to me books. At 6 months old I was allowed to watch television and often engaged in dancing and singing or pointing at the screen. By 8 months old I was trying to speak but was not comprehensible to adults. My first word was “no.” At 1 year old I was able to mimic words and phrases in a comprehensible way. By 18 months I was able to form sentences, in particular I would sing the entire Barney introduction song. At 18 months old I would sit actively with books and point at the pictures while my mother read the page and asked me engaging labeling based questions. We would label colors and shapes. At 3 years old I would write with crayons and began to identify letters. According to my Grandmother at 3 years old while in the backseat of the car, I announced to her “I am talking in my head.” It seemed normal to announce the activities we were doing, and this was my first time expressing clearly that I was thinking. I would ask questions why and what questions and be given adult level answers. This was not by parental design but rather due to my insistent questioning. By 5 years old I was actively reading and writing. By 7 years old I had learned both print and cursive.

Speech Communities

I have belonged to the speech communities of every school I have attended and every job I have had. I learned a small amount of ASL in elementary school specifically how to sign for more, quiet, please, thank you, and the letter B which was used to signify that you needed the bathroom pass. I studied Spanish for two years in high school as a graduation requirement, and participated in a unique Pidgin language as Spanish and English merged with our lesson. The use of this Spanglish like language faded and changed rapidly as our vocabulary and understanding of Spanish grammar improved. The major markers of my professional language use are the ability to use the prescribed grammar and proper English forms of language. I learned technical terminology and the slang required for Marketing, Print Production and Car Sales in my professional life. These are often including abbreviations and profession specific terms like SaaS (Software as a Subscription), Vector Images, 4WD (Four Wheel Drive). In my social life during high school and college I learned 1337 or Leet as a dialect of English through the internet as well as the text writing system associated with cellphones.

Written Language

At 3 years old I was able to use symbols to identify and label things. This includes categorizing colors, and shapes. As well as understanding that a drawing of smile represented a happy person or an apple represented an apply. 5 years old I was identifying all 26 letters of the English alphabet appropriately. By 7 years old I was able to write and read in cursive, a more stylized and flowing version of the English alphabet. In my high school Spanish Course, I learned to use the additional letters of the Spanish Alphabet appropriately. I also learned how to type properly on a computer in a course designated “keyboarding” which was intended to replace cursive as the most professional means of written communication.

At that time, I received my first cell phone and began to engage in texting. Abbreviations like txt (text), kk(okay), brb (be right back), and the use of varied emojis in conversation was normalized. This would closely resemble a symbol language. As I got older the emojis began to be used to represent things outside of their literal image, for instance an eggplant would be used to represent a penis or the desire to have sexual contact. After I had normalized the use of textual communication on my cellphone, I began communication through the internet with my friends on the MMORPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games) WOW (World of Warcraft).

At this point I began to use symbols to represent other things. An asterisk would be used around text to show that it was a description of physical action, parenthesis would be used to show internal thoughts. Entire dialogues between me and my friends would consist of conversations where we wrote down how we would have altered the physical actions of our characters on screen to represent our real-life behaviors, including affect behaviors like hugging. My use of the internet expanded and chat rooms or skype conversations would occur. In these conversations we would often use 1337 a written form of English which numbers and keyboard symbols would be used in place of letters. It has its own lexicon including words like “uber” which means super in German.

In my professional life my writing is often maintained through the use of email or Instant messenger, but will occasionally include instructional and training materials. Often the language use is varied more in my professional writing short hand than in my speech. For instance, one would not say “4WD” they would say “Four Wheel Drive.” You would be considered strange if you were to state all of the written abbreviations while others are expected. Another term that describes a vehicle and is said exactly as it is written would be “4x4” or “Four by Four.”

Cultural Importance & Socio-Economic Impact

Codeswitching is the ability to change the code or language being used based on situation. Throughout my life I have codeswitched consistently in multiple settings. While I speak with my family, I will not use curse words out of respect, and will often speak more loudly and simultaneously with others to actively participate in the conversation. In other settings with my social circle I will speak more quietly but maintain speaking often at the same time as a means of active engagement. In my digital life, I will not participate actively, but rather will wait for a reply before continuing as the pacing expected is much slower than in person communication. While in professional settings I will wait until the person I am speaking with has finished before I begin speaking as a sign of respect that I am listening and understand what they have to say. The speech communities I am participating in will each have their own cultural expectation of what is considered respectful. Successfully codeswitching is necessary to maintain respect and understanding across those barriers.

These changes in behavior occur based on the speech community I am participating in. But on occasion I will have a cross in speech communities. One of these crosses would be speaking with a coworker and a superior in a text thread, placing me in a position of middle power. The concept of middle power “is the subjective sense that one’s power is neither consistently higher nor lower than the power of one’s interaction partners.” (Anicich, 1). While in this position I am required to maintain professional and friendly conversation simultaneously without making either person feel isolated or compromising future ability to move forward.

“[T]he concepts of “middleness” and codeswitching are crucially intertwined. Middleness refers to being an equal distance from the extremities of some continuum. All else being equal, as one approaches an extreme end of a variable’s continuum (e.g., relative power), the probability of encountering situations that require directional code-switching with respect to the underlying variable decreases.” (Anicich, 5). My Grandmother has told me she is not very successful as codeswitching in written communication. While her friendly demeanor and lack of formal grammar in speech feels natural, in written it becomes a singular run on sentence which appears to be highly unprofessional. This is one of many things that has prevented her from moving forward in her career. My Mother on the other hand is highly capable in written and verbal speech. She goes so far as to change the pitch of her voice during customer service interactions to help defuse situations. She will listen to her guests and watch their movements to properly adjust her speaking to match theirs. This has allowed her to move upward in her professional career. My language defaults typically to the more acceptable or proper use of American English and does not limit my professional success in businesses where Women are already in management roles.

However, I find in my personal experience the ability to speak with men in the same manner they speak with me is not viewed well. Rather than assuming the exact same tone, I must alter my phrasing and my posture to seem sweet or less aggressive than a man in the same role would be expected to behave. The machine running process for print production has always made sense to me, yet on four separate occasions I was asked to speak to the manager, or a man about the machines. It is often assumed simply by the sound of my voice on the phone that I am not the manager, or person in the shop running the machines, but rather a receptionist. The expectation of salary negotiation and benefit negotiation often carries additional levels that my male counter parts do not have to address. Specifically, conversations about if I will start a family and when will come up at every job interview. These are shifts in the cultural perception of businesses that are run primarily by men. Currently two of three of my supervisors are female.

Conclusion

My ability to code switch and uses the English which is considered to be the most proper displays to most communities that I have a high language competence. This means that others perceive me as well educated, of a high status, and hold power in society. English as I speak it most frequently is deemed to be the correct or highest standard, pairing that with the fact that I am a white woman creates a strong cultural connection to success. I face struggles of perceived weakness in comparison to men due to the pitch of my voice or framing of my body. Yet, I do not face many of the struggles that a woman of color would face speaking in the same way. I certainly do not struggle with being told my root language is bad or wrong forcing me to hide my cultural identity. Rather my family language of Gaeilge has nearly died out on its own accord. The slang-based dialects I use in my everyday life are often associated with intelligence and computer savvy, connecting me to groups that share the same fandoms, and passions. These include the groups like Nerdfighteria, WOW community, and Marching Band. The groups I have been a part of have introduced me to different ways to use language, and I have introduced different ways of thinking about the world to others through that language. Language and culture are intertwined consistently evolving together and altering one another.

References

Anicich, Eric M. and Jacob B. Hirsh. "The Psychology of Middle Power: Vertical Code-Switching, Role Conflict, and Behavioral Inhibition." Academy of Management Review, vol. 42, no. 4, Oct. 2017, pp. 659-682. EBSCOhost, doi:10.5465/amr.2016.0002.

English Language. (2018). th, 1; Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=funk&AN=en044200&site=eds-live&scope=site

Hickey, Raymond. “Irish.” Belgian Review of Philology and History, vol. 90, 2012, pp. 973–999., doi:https://doi.org/10.3406/rbph.2012.8271. https://www.persee.fr/doc/rbph_0035-0818_2012_num_90_3_8271

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topworldhistory · 4 years

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1539 - St Jacob's Church burns after being hit by lightning 1705 - Prosper Jolyot's "Idomenée," premieres in Paris 1841 - King and Grand Duke Willem II installs Order of Eikenkroon 1926 - Vatican puts French fascist Charles Maurras' work on the index 1934 - Federico Garcia Lorca's "Yerma" premieres in Madrid 1937 - Constitution of Ireland (Irish: Bunreacht na hÉireann) is enacted and Irish free state is named Eire 1962 - British driver Graham Hill wins the South African Grand Prix at Prince George Circuit in a BRM; takes out his first F1 World Drivers Championship by 12 points from Scotsman Jim Clark 1982 - Bob Marley postage stamp issued in Jamaica 1989 - Riots break-out after Hong Kong decides to forcibly repatriate Vietnamese refugees. 1991 - 12th United Negro College Fund

More Historical Events »

from Historical Events | OnThisDay.com https://ift.tt/37g2eSW December 29, 2019 at 10:33AM

#Worldhistory

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babaalexander · 6 years

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December 29: Constitution Day wishes to Ireland Ireland ( Éire), also known as the Republic of Ireland (Poblacht na hÉireann), is a sovereign state in north-western Europe occupying 26 of 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, which is located on the eastern part of the island, and whose metropolitan area is home to around a third of the country's 4.75 million inhabitants. The state shares its only land border with Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom. It is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, with the Celtic Sea to the south, Saint George's Channel to the south-east, and the Irish Sea to the east. It is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The legislature, the Oireachtas, consists of a lower house, Dáil Éireann, an upper house, Seanad Éireann, and an elected President (Uachtarán) who serves as the largely ceremonial head of state, but with some important powers and duties. The head of government is the Taoiseach (Prime Minister, literally 'Chief', a title not used in English), who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President; the Taoiseach in turn appoints other government ministers. The state was created as the Irish Free State in 1922 as a result of the Anglo-Irish Treaty. It had the status of dominion until 1937 when a new constitution was adopted, in which the state was named "Ireland" and effectively became a republic, with an elected non-executive president as head of state. It was officially declared a republic in 1949, following the Republic of Ireland Act 1948. Ireland became a member of the United Nations in December 1955. It joined the European Economic Community (EEC), the predecessor of the European Union, in 1973. The state had no formal relations with Northern Ireland for most of the twentieth century, but during the 1980s and 1990s the British and Irish governments worked with the Northern Ireland parties towards a resolution to "the Troubles". Since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, the Irish government and Northern Ireland Executive have co-operated on a number of policy areas under the North-South Ministerial Council created by the Agreement. Ireland ranks among the top twenty-five wealthiest countries in the world in terms of GDP per capita, and as the tenth most prosperous country in the world according to The Legatum Prosperity Index 2015. After joining the EEC, Ireland enacted a series of liberal economic policies that resulted in rapid economic growth. The country achieved considerable prosperity between the years of 1995 and 2007, which became known as the Celtic Tiger period. This was halted by an unprecedented financial crisis that began in 2008, in conjunction with the concurrent global economic crash. However, as the Irish economy was the fastest growing in the EU in 2015, Ireland is again quickly ascending league tables comparing wealth and prosperity internationally. For example, in 2015, Ireland was ranked as the joint sixth (with Germany) most developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index. It also performs well in several national performance metrics, including freedom of the press, economic freedom and civil liberties. Ireland is a member of the European Union and is a founding member of the Council of Europe and the OECD. The Irish government has followed a policy of military neutrality through non-alignment since immediately prior to World War II and the country is consequently not a member of NATO, although it is a member of Partnership for Peace. 29 Nollaig: Is mian le Lá an Bhunreachta d'Éirinn Is é an t-ainm a bhfuil Éire ar a dtugtar Poblacht na hÉireann, stát ceannasach in iarthuaisceart na hEorpa, ag áitiú 26 as 32 gcontae d'oileán na hÉireann. Is é Baile Átha Cliath an caipiteal agus an chathair is mó, atá suite ar an taobh thoir den oileán, agus tá thart ar an tríú cuid de 4.75 milliún áitritheoir na tíre ina limistéar uirbeach. Is í an stát an t-aon teorainn talún atá aige le Tuaisceart Éireann, cuid den Ríocht Aontaithe. Tá an tAigéan Atlantach timpeallaithe aige ar shlí eile, leis an Mhuir Cheilteach ar an taobh ó dheas, Channel Channel Naomh Sheoirse san oirdheisceart, agus Muir na hÉireann ar an taobh thoir. Is poblacht aonadach, parlaiminte í. Is éard atá sa reachtas, an tOireachtas, ná teach níos ísle, Dáil Éireann, teach uachtarach, Seanad Éireann, agus Uachtarán tofa (Uachtarán) a fheidhmíonn mar phríomh-stáit searmanas, ach le roinnt cumhachtaí agus dualgais thábhachtacha. Is é ceann an rialtais an Taoiseach (Príomh-Aire, 'Príomh-Phríomhoide', teideal nach n-úsáidtear sa Bhéarla), a thoghfaidh an Dáil agus a cheapann an tUachtarán é; ceapann an Taoiseach airí rialtais eile ina dhiaidh sin. Cruthaíodh an stát mar Shaorstát na hÉireann i 1922 mar thoradh ar an gConradh Angla-Éireannach. Bhí stádas an teannas aige go dtí 1937 nuair a glacadh bunreacht nua, inar ainmníodh an stát "Éire" agus gur éirigh leis an bpobal é go héifeachtach, agus uachtarán neamhfheidhmiúcháin tofa mar cheann stáit. Rinneadh Poblacht na hÉireann a dhearbhú go hoifigiúil i 1949, tar éis Acht Phoblacht na hÉireann 1948. Tháinig Éire ina bhall de na Náisiúin Aontaithe i mí na Nollag 1955. Chuaigh sé isteach i gComhphobal Eacnamaíochta na hEorpa (CEE), réamhtheachtaí an Aontais Eorpaigh, i 1973. An ní raibh aon chaidreamh foirmiúil ag an stát le Tuaisceart Éireann don chuid is mó den fhichiú haois, ach le linn na 1980í agus na 1990idí d'oibrigh rialtais na Breataine agus na hÉireann le páirtithe Thuaisceart Éireann i dtreo rún ar "na Trioblóidí". Ó shínigh Comhaontú Aoine an Chéasta i 1998, tá rialtas na hÉireann agus Feidhmeannas Thuaisceart Éireann tar éis comhoibriú ar roinnt réimsí beartais faoin gComhairle Aireachta Thuaidh-Theas a chruthaigh an Comhaontú. Tá Éire i measc na cúig tír is fiche is saibhre is fearr sa domhan i dtéarmaí OTI in aghaidh an duine, agus mar an deichiú tír is rathúla sa domhan de réir Innéacs Rathúnas Legatum 2015. Tar éis dó dul isteach sa CEE, achtaigh Éire sraith de eacnamaíoch liobrálacha beartais a d'eascair le fás tapa eacnamaíochta. Bhain an tír rathúnas suntasach idir na blianta 1995 agus 2007, ar a dtugtar tréimhse na Tíogair Cheiltigh. Stad géarchéim airgeadais nach bhfacthas riamh roimhe seo é seo a thosaigh i 2008, i gcomhar leis an timpiste eacnamaíoch domhanda chomhthráth. Mar sin féin, ós rud é gurb é geilleagar na hÉireann an fás is tapúla san AE in 2015, tá Éire ag teacht suas go tapa ar tháblaí sraithe ag teacht chun cinn saibhreas agus rathúnas go hidirnáisiúnta. Mar shampla, in 2015, rangaithe Éire mar an séú (an Ghearmáin) an tír is forbartha ar domhan ag Innéacs um Fhorbairt Daonna na Náisiún Aontaithe. Feidhmíonn sé go maith i roinnt méadracht feidhmíochta náisiúnta, lena n-áirítear saoirse an phreasa, saoirse eacnamaíoch agus saoirsí sibhialta. Tá Éire ina bhall den Aontas Eorpach agus is ball de chuid Chomhairle na hEorpa agus an OECD é. Tá polasaí neodrachta míleata ag rialtas na hÉireann trí neamh-ailíniú ó díreach roimh an Dara Cogadh Domhanda agus níl an tír mar chomhalta den NATO dá bhrí sin, cé go bhfuil sé ina bhall den Chomhpháirtíocht um Shíocháin. #Ireland #Éire #Irish #AmhránnabhFiann #Dublin #MichaelDHiggins #LeoVaradkar #SimonCoveney #CliffsofMoher #GuinnessStorehouse #BlarneyCastle #RingofKerry #Galway #Cork #Limerick #Waterford #Killarney #Belfast #Kilkenny #Westport #Kinsale #Éireann #Gaeilge #baileáthaCliath #LáanBhunreachta #Bunreacht #Oireachtas #DáilÉireann #SeanadÉireann #Uachtarán

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