National holiday:
Saint Patrick's Day, 17 March
Constitution:
adopted 1 July 1937 by plebiscite; effective 29 December 1937
Legal system:
based on English common law, substantially modified by indigenous
concepts; judicial review of legislative acts in Supreme Court; has
not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Executive branch:
chief of state: President Mary MCALEESE (since 11 November 1997)
head of government: Prime Minister Bertie AHERN (since 26 June 1997)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president with previous nomination
by the prime minister and approval of the House of Representatives
elections: president elected by popular vote for a seven-year term
(eligible for a second term); election last held 31 October 1997
(next scheduled for October 2011); note - Mary MCALEESE appointed to
a second term when no other candidate qualified for the 2004
presidential election; prime minister (taoiseach) nominated by the
House of Representatives and appointed by the president
election results: Mary MCALEESE elected president; percent of vote -
Mary MCALEESE 44.8%, Mary BANOTTI 29.6%
note: government coalition - Fianna Fail and the Progressive
Democrats
Legislative branch:
bicameral Parliament or Oireachtas consists of the Senate or Seanad
Eireann (60 seats - 49 elected by the universities and from
candidates put forward by five vocational panels, 11 are nominated
by the prime minister; members serve five-year terms) and the House
of Representatives or Dail Eireann (166 seats; members are elected
by popular vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve
five-year terms)
elections: Senate - last held 16 and 17 July 2002 (next to be held
by July 2007); House of Representatives - last held 17 May 2002
(next to be held by May 2007)
election results: Senate - percent of vote by party - NA; seats by
party - Fianna Fail 30, Fine Gael 15, Labor Party 5, Progressive
Democrats 4, independents and other 6; House of Representatives -
percent of vote by party - Fianna Fail 41.5%, Fine Gael 22.5%, Labor
Party 10.8%, Sinn Fein 6.5%, Progressive Democrats 4.0%, Green Party
3.8%, other 10.9%; seats by party - Fianna Fail 81, Fine Gael 31,
Labor Party 21, Sinn Fein 5, Progressive Democrats 8, Green Party 6,
other 14
Judicial branch:
Supreme Court (judges appointed by the president on the advice of
the prime minister and cabinet)
Political parties and leaders:
Fianna Fail [Bertie AHERN]; Fine Gael [Enda KENNY]; Green Party
[Trevor SARGENT]; Labor Party [Pat RABITTE]; Progressive Democrats
[Michael McDOWELL]; Sinn Fein [Gerry ADAMS]; Socialist Party [Joe
HIGGINS]; The Workers' Party [Sean GARLAND]
Political pressure groups and leaders:
NA
International organization participation:
AsDB, Australia Group, BIS, CE, EAPC, EBRD, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO,
IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO,
IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC,
NEA, NSG, OAS (observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, Paris Club, PCA, PFP,
UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIL, UNOCI, UNTSO, UPU,
WCO, WEU (observer), WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO, ZC