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IT’S BEEN 70 years since Ireland officially became a republic.
After the divisive Anglo-Irish Treaty was adopted in 1922, what’s now known as ‘Ireland’ was a 26-county Irish Free State. Bunreacht na hÉireann, or the Irish constitution, was then ratified by the Irish people in 1937, which is remains as the fundamental law of the State, and can only be altered by referendums.
At midnight on 18 April 1949, Easter Monday, Ireland officially became a Republic and left the Commonwealth. At the time, a declaration of a republic ended Commonwealth membership, a rule that was changed afterwards.
“On this day in 1949, the Republic of Ireland Act 1948, signed into law by President Seán T Ó Ceallaigh on 21 December 1948, came into force, formally ending the statutory role of the British monarchy in Ireland,” the President of Ireland Twitter account said.
An article from the Irish Times from that day, which describes 21-gun salutes fired from O’Connell Bridge in Dublin, among other celebrations, can be read here.
Ireland became a member of the UN in 1955, and joined the European Economic Community, the predecessor of the EU, in 1973, the same year the United Kingdom joined.
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The UK government referred to the country as the “Republic of Ireland” until the Good Friday Agreement in 1998, where it used its official, legal name “Ireland”.
This day 70 years ago – 18 April 1949 – Ireland officially became a Republic, leaving the Commonwealth, and repealing the 1936 External Relations Act.
A 21-gun salute was fired from O'Connell Bridge, and in Cork, old IRA veteran Tom Barry read the 1916 Proclamation at City Hall. pic.twitter.com/jOC7eoVzZj
— This Day in Irish History (@ThisDayIrish) April 18, 2019
When asked on Newstalk Breakfast whether Ireland has been a successful republic, Minister for Finance and Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe said “yes, we have”.
He said there were still challenges to be solved, including children living in hotels as their home, and the challenges in the health service.
“If we look at the overall span of history, we’ve gone from exporting our people to exporting our ideals and our values,” Donohoe said.
He said that Ireland should acknowledge that progress has been made, as well as facing the challenges that remain.
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@pete: jaysus Pete what a pile of rubbish .. point me out the eu dictator who is ruler for life .. point out all the negatives if being a member of the biggest free trading block in the world …
@John Kelly: well for starters he never mentioned a dictator, you did, so stop trying to expand the argument by indicating one thing means another thing.
Germany appears to now be the ruler for life, if you want us to point to one.
Negatives? For starters the currency has been a managed disaster and Dáil Éireann is no longer fully capable of implementing legislation to suit Irish needs. That is the whole point of a democracy.
A free trading block does not need to be a political union, which is what the EU is. Let’s define it properly when making arguments.
@John Kelly: I don’t recall dictators or free trading block being mentioned etc…. But the good thing here is “facts don’t care about your feelings”. If you read over the post its very transparent.
@Mushy Peas: the realities are that the EU has benefitted Ireland tremendously since we joined. Our country has been transformed.
More generally the EU is a unique institution in world history where countries have chosen to come together, integrate their economies and regulations for he benefit of all its citizens. There is truly nothing like it and while it’s not perfect by any means it is something we should be proud of.
Thats the reality.
@Mushy Peas: Have you any idea what you’re talking about? Have you any idea why the “third biggest” nation is leaving the EU? Have you totally swallowed the nationalistic book of yesteryears fairytales? Are you a skinhead? :-)
@Ricky Spanish: Ireland has probably been the most beneficial member. I fully agree and don’t deny it, and I’m not advocating that we should leave the EU (as the current political landscape lies).
However, I am just accepting what it is. You don’t seem to accept what it is and the negatives of the EU.
The integration of economies is a noble idea but has an serious flaws that need to be addressed.
@TellingItAsItIs: Highly knowledgeable sophisticated authority on worldly affairs aparently! Proceed with caution deeply opinionated! Conflates a number of different economic, political, and social issues. Resorts to name calling when challenged. Beware. If you don’t agree you could be called a skin head.
@TellingItAsItIs: I think I know what I’m talking about (through my opinion), but others can make up their own minds up.
I’m not a nationalist for the record, but I believe in the idea of the nation state, and its ability to determine its own legislation based on democratic principles. The very same democratic principles that enabled an Irish government to join the EEC.
But with these principles comes responsibility.
Do I have any idea why the UK is leaving? I think so, and it’s nothing to do with a bus in 2016; my view is seen through a fisheye lens back to before Maastricht and the ERM catastrophe.
@Mushy Peas: They’re leaving because the majority swallowed lies from Ukip, Nationalists, Fear inducers, pub knowalls and Eurohaters. They’re leaving because many are racists and bigots. They’re leaving because many actually didn’t understand the question and decided change might bring happiness ever after. They’re leaving because of blind ignorance. They’re leaving because they still believe they should ‘rule the waves’.
See any parallels?
@Mushy Peas: So you won’t point out what your problem is beyond “but brexit” ? We have to guess what you’re on about, and if we guess wrong then we are sheeple or brainwashed by the evil Germans ?
@Ricky Spanish: except it is isn’t. The free trade opportunities offered by the EEC certainly helped. But a lot of this was happening anyway via the likes of GATT and the WTO. Social change was always going to occur anyway. Remember we gave away so much to secure EU membership. Debate now needs to be about what EU will become post Brexit. What’s going to happen to our tax rate, PESCO etc. We need a mature debate without the silly ‘Russian’ jibes
Today we have FF and FG fumbling in their greasy tills. Was it this that the brave men laid down their lives in 1916? Over 3,500 children homeless and nothing constructive being done about it. People suffering heart attacks waiting on ambulances for over an hour and dieing unnecessary due to the crumbling health service, while people who can afford it get the best drugs to treat their illnesses, while those who can’t afford it suffer unnecessarily.
@Cal Mooney: fg does what it says on the tin I blame FF for giving the the power to trample all over the irish Republic …when it’s election time il be waiting with baited breath at the front door for FF to call as for fg I always just shut the door in there face
@Cal Mooney: and transport, insurance, etc. we fall over nearly every hurdle. A small underpopulated island barely managing to make life better for themselves, through generations of short sighted decision making.
@Cal Mooney: it could be worse, we have some freedoms that were beyond the minds of those in 1916 like divorce and same sex marriage and a greater divide between church and state than we had even 30 years ago. Ireland isn’t perfect and there’s a lot that could be improved but compare our complaints of a underfunded health service with those of other nations of the world like Syria or a lot of African countries where they barely even have hospitals. Our health service may be failing but at least we can go to the hospital without fear of the place getting blown up and at least a lot of us can still afford at least the basics of food and water. Life can always always be worse
@Elizabeth Hourihane: we didn’t fail it the politicians fail us with their mock War of FF v fg for 50 years and labour doing a lanagans ball… they wer just taking turns holding the wip while they and the friends got fat off the land…
@Joe Bloggs 1980: Basically the only time we were winning was 90′s to 08, outside that, in our entire history we’ve been crap. (a lot of that wasn’t exactly by choice) in the time since the republic perhaps yes we’ve all become much wealthier but we’ve really got nothing to show for it, which is sad. It’s more important to have 2 diesel cars than say a high-speed electric train and thats the psychology of the people, “my shiny”.
@Joe Bloggs 1980: The trick is to compare yourself to the best and aim for the same heights. Yes and you are right, we have manage to crawl out of our past but we could have been building along the way, we’re still only beginning to plan further than the end of our noses and that’s proving impossible too! The shoulder shrugging, defeatist, nihilist, Irish attitude is so frustrating.
@Pseudonym: was in America a few years ago out for a few drinks with some lads from wall st the night was flowing and when I proudly stated rthat Ireland was a Republic I WAS LAUGHED OUT OF THE PLACE THEY SAID IT WAS RUN BY MAFIA IN SUITS …still hurts to this day thinking about it …I wised up pretty quick after that
@Michael Nolan: The Yanks couldn’t find Ireland on a map. They’ve been educated by Hollywood. cherry picked newspaper headlines and ignorance since birth.
@Michael Nolan: are you sure they didn’t ask you where you were from and you gave them Republic of Ireland? The football team? Not the name of our country Ireland or Éire, they may have been right to laugh at you ! As I do at so many fools who think RoI is the country’s name!
@Jimmy Carroll: 4th in the UN’s Quality of Life Survey and one of the top countries in the world in the OECD Better Life Index.
From one of the poorest countries in Europe to one of the wealthiest in the world within a 70 year period. This country, in spite of its undeniable problems is relative to most of the world, an incredible success storey!
@Jimmy Carroll: yes because we failed those who fought so that Ireland could democratically elect its own leaders…. by democratically electing our own leaders. And we’re hardly a failed entity stop with that carry on is there a civil war going on in this country like in Syria?, are we being starved into oblivion like Venezuela? no we are not we’re just a country with problems like every other nation on Earth let’s stop acting like we’re the only ones with flaws
Ireland is powerless against a corrupt financial and banking system at all levels including insurance,
Also the construction sector is still a cesspit of greed,
Apart from the odd scape goat , the same corrupt bankers and previously bankrupt developers are back in business and benefiting from state funding,
Maybe in 70 years time things will be different but there’s little signs of that in the horizon,
I guess Paschal didn’t get to read the reports in to mother and baby homes yet, how the state/religious orders who ran this country managed to lose so many little people ,no records,no history, no graves. How generations of our people were and continue to be failed by this state who promised to cherish us equally,” a successful republic for who” Paschal,I think that is a closed circle. We have yet to see a tribunal establish guilt for the myriad of failures and the follow up to prosecute those at the helm, it is an unjust and unequal society and it is government policy.
And how would our leaders who died for us in 1916 and who led us to our independence view the fact that we now kill our children in the name of “choice”. We have nothing to be proud of.
Banana republic is harsh. I prefer Full Irish Republic, as a salute to our national dish and creative tax policies. Keep the recovery going. I’ll have sauce on my roll, thanks.
Well we escaped annexation, then we escaped dominion, but we never quite reached Republic, I dont suppose we ever will, but has anyone ever got there?, even the French. Still, its a good aspirational model even if we do need to operate in a collective.
@Derek Poutch: agreed, I love my country from it’s folklore, traditions and language but the incompetence of successive governments even puts that at risk.
‘In the earliest days, seven guns was the recognized British national salute because seven was the standard number of weapons on a vessel. In that day, gunpowder made from sodium nitrate was easier to keep on dry land than at sea. Thus those early regulations stated that although a ship would fire only seven guns, the forts ashore would fire three shots to each one shot afloat, hence the number 21.’
Please shut Down comment section on articles that give a positive light on ireland or any possible positive view.. All your doing is upsetting the self loathers, who just live in misery.. Never wanting to be happy constantly with whataboutery!!!
The HEROS of 1916 didn’t fight for a welfare state they faught for a free Ireland, not a we want EVERYTHING free Ireland.
Go into the streets and ask how many of them even know when we became a republic, I’d Imagine you’d be disappointed with the results. Were not perfect but we are only 70 years a republic and an independent country since 1922
Its a bit shameful to be honest, with the incompetence and wastage of our politicians who are making themselves multi millionaires out of it while effing up practically everything.
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