Ireland

Published date01 April 2012
Date01 April 2012
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1111/j.2041-9066.2012.00095.x
Subject MatterCountry Focus
per cent in 1974 to 55 per cent in 2005, and even smaller
percentages are reported in the working class areas of
Dublin and the other main cities.
A liberal emphasis on individual moral responsibility,
equality rather than hierarchy and participation rather
than submission to authority has occurred. A series of
scandals erupted in the 1990s and placed the Church in
a permanent crisis of authority. The horrif‌ic revelation
of decades of clerical child sexual and physical abuse, as
revealed in the Murphy and Ryan Reports, has accentu-
ated a fundamental shift in the relationship between the
Irish people and the Catholic Church.
Irish public life has witnessed a permanent process
of institutional self-scrutiny since 1990. In the 20-year
period between 1990 and 2010, 32 public inquiries were
initiated to examine matters of ethical concern within
politics, business, the Church, police, f‌inance, public
service, professions and health. These inquiries publicly
questioned the character of authority. Self-regulated
institutional authority has been comprehensively chal-
lenged and a sea change in attitudes towards the in-
tegrity of power has occurred. This marks an overdue
and positive development in Irish public life. Traditional
values of blind deference, misguided loyalty and the
fear of asking questions have undergone an electrifying
process of clarif‌ication.
Politics
Despite these social changes, Ireland has not witnessed
fundamental political transformation. The Anglo-Irish
Treaty, which was signed on 6 December 1921 and
formally ended Ireland’s War of Independence with the
United Kingdom, remains the key political moment in
the history of the state. The Treaty proved divisive on
three grounds:
It demanded that Irish parliamentarians take an oath
of allegiance to the British monarch.
It gave Britain control over Irish ports.
Most controversially, it conferred the six counties in
the north-east of the country the right to decide their
own fate – this ultimately meant partition of the island
between North and South.
Country Focus
Ireland
In the space of one generation, Ireland has experienced
remarkable social and economic readjustment. The
attitudes of a relatively homogeneous Catholic nation,
characterised by a broad consensus congregating around
conservative social attitudes, have undergone swelter-
ing change. There has been a signif‌icant liberalisation
in attitudes toward religious and moral issues, notably
abortion, divorce and homosexuality. Regular mass at-
tendance has collapsed from an astonishingly high 91
Almost overnight Ireland went from being an economic success story to the brink of bankruptcy. Reflecting
on changes in Irish social, economic and political life, Elaine Byrne argues that the long-term effect of the
financial crash on Ireland’s party political system remains uncertain.
mapresources.com
The 1921 Anglo-
Irish Treaty
remains the
pivotal political
moment in the
history of the
Irish state
23April 2012

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