Ireland flag Ireland: Economic and Political Overview

The political framework of Ireland

Political Outline

Current Political Leaders
President: Michael D. Higgins (since 29 October 2011, re-elected in October 2018)
Prime Minister: Leo Varadkar (since 16 December 2022)
Next Election Dates
Presidential elections: November 2025
Senate: 2025
House of Representatives: 2025
Current Political Context
General elections were held in February 2020, in which no party secured a majority but Fianna Fáil won the most seats. After months of coalition negotiations disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, traditional rival parties Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael formed a coalition government for the first time, along with the Green Party. The Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin was elected as Ireland’s Taoiseach (prime minister) in June 2020, succeeding to Fine Gael’s leader Leo Varadkar. The nationalist party Sinn Féin made a historic breakthrough at these elections, and in July 2022, it took advantage of the loss of the government's majority in the Dáil to launch a motion of censure. However, the motion of no confidence was largely rejected (Coface). This strategic weakness of the government, leaves the opposition well placed to condemn the coalition for its alleged failures on housing, health and mitigating the cost-of-living crisis (The Economist). In 2022, after two years of restrictions measures including mandatory lockdowns, hotel quarantine and masks-wearing, all COVID-19 restrictions were removed, but the government had to face the new challenge of high inflation triggered by the war in Ukraine. According to the rotating leadership agreement, Leo Varadkar returned to power in December 2022 for the second part of the mandate.

After three years of conflict, the British Parliament voted in December 2019 in favor of the plan to leave the EU proposed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. In December 2020 on Christmas Eve, a 'thin deal' was signed, leaving much topics unsettled, to avoid a catastrophic exit without a deal. The stakes were crucial for Ireland because of its privileged trade relations with the United Kingdom and its land border with Northern Ireland. Besides the Brexit issue, Ireland adopted an international tax reform increasing the corporate tax rate, as agreed with the OECD. In December 2022, the Finance Minister announced that Ireland's corporation tax rate would be increased to 15% for large companies in 2024.

Main Political Parties
Historically, the Fianna Fail and Fine Gael parties have dominated politics.
- Fine Gael: centre-right, socially moderate and fiscally conservative
- Fianna Fail: centre/centre-right, populist
- Labour: centre-left
- Sinn Fein: left-wing
- Green Party: centre-left, driven by green politics.

-Renua Ireland
-Social Democrats
-Socialist Party

- Aontú


-Workers and unemployed Action: left

-Independents 4 Change: left

Executive Power
The President, who serves as the Head of State in a largely ceremonial role, is elected for a 7-year term and can be re-elected only once. The Prime Minister (Taoiseach) is the Head of the Government. He is appointed by the president after being appointed by the lower house.
Legislative Power
Bicameral national Parliament (Oireachtas): House of Representatives (Dail) and Senate (Seanad). The Chamber of Deputies has 166 members elected by universal suffrage and the Senate is composed of 60 members (one part elected by the national universities and the other part by a representative panel of the civil society).
 

Indicator of Freedom of the Press

Definition:

The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).

World Rank:
12/180
 

Indicator of Political Freedom

Definition:

The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.

Ranking:
Free
Political Freedom:
1/7

Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House

 

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Latest Update: November 2023

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