Ireland Government - 1986

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Official name: Ireland, Eire (Gaelic)

Type: republic

Capital: Dublin

Political subdivisions: 26 counties

Legal system: based on English common law, substantially modified by indigenous concepts; constitution adopted 1937; judicial review of legislative acts in Supreme Court; has not accepted compulsory 1CJ jurisdiction

National holiday: St. Patrick’s Day, 17 March

Branches: elected President; bicameral parliament (Seanad Dail) reflecting proportional and vocational representation; judiciary appointed by President on advice of government

Government leaders: Dr. Patrick J.

HILLERY, President (since 1976); Dr. Garret FITZGERALD, Prime Minister (since 1982); Richard SPRING, Deputy Prime Minister (since 1982)

Suffrage: universal over age 18

Elections: Dail (lower house) elected every five years---last election November 1982; President elected for seven-year term—last election October 1983

Political parties and leaders: Fianna Fail, Charles Haughey; Labor Party, Richard Spring; Fine Gael, Garret FitzGerald; Communist Party of Ireland, Michael O’Riordan; Workers’ Party, Tomas MacGiolIa; Sinn Fein, Gerry Adame; Progressive Democrats, Desmond O’Malley

Voting strength: (1982 election) Dail— Fianna Fail 75 seats; Fine Gael, 70 seats; Labor Party, 16 seats; independents, 3 seats;

Workers Party, 2 seats

Communists under 500

Member of: Council of Europe, EC, EMS, ESRO (observer), FAO. CATT, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICES, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ISO, ITC, ITU, IWC—International Wheat Council, OECD, UN, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WSG

NOTE: The information regarding Ireland on this page is re-published from the 1986 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Ireland 1986 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Ireland 1986 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.