Ireland

greatreporter.com, December 31st, 2006

Area: 70,273 sq km (27,133 sq mi)

Population (2006 est.): 4,250,000

Capital: Dublin

Chief of state: President Mary McAleese

Head of government: Prime Minister Bertie Ahern

Some unfavourable signs started to appear in Ireland 's economic landscape as 2006 drew to a close, and, after more than a decade of exceptional growth, the Irish began to brace themselves for a return to something closer to economic normality. GNP growth rates of 6–8% (depending upon which analysis one accepted) had been achieved in the period 2003–05, but the most credible estimates for 2006 were in the region of 5%, and economic commentators and academics were predicting growth of perhaps 3–4% for 2007. Some Irish economists believed that the slowdown would be a welcome respite from the rapid growth and overheating that had placed enormous demands on the country's social services and physical infrastructure, which were still suffering from underinvestment during the 1980s and '90s.

Other disturbing signals were a rising rate of inflation—topping 4% in July—and some slight faltering in consumer confidence in the latter half of the year as the European Central Bank raised interest rates. The inflationary trend was bad news for the government and planners, but there was an expectation that rising interest rates might help to slow Ireland 's runaway growth in housing prices. By September it had become apparent that housing price increases were indeed moderating, although they remained ahead of the rate of inflation.

In July the preliminary results of a national census taken in April showed that Ireland 's population exceeded 4.2 million. The report also indicated that more than 10% of the population was born outside the country, principally in Eastern Europe, China , or West Africa. The great majority of immigrant workers were employed in the construction, food-service, and general-service sectors.

With a general election due no later than early summer 2007, the coalition government of the Fianna Fail party and the Progressive Democrats was at pains to show the positive effects of its nine years in office. In September, however, the leader of the Progressive Democrats, Mary Harney , stepped down as party chief and as deputy prime minister. She was replaced by Justice Minister Michael McDowell . Almost immediately, the government coalition came under strain with the publication in Prime Minister Bertie Ahern had accepted inappropriate financial donations in the 1990s. Ahern apologized and the crisis passed. The Irish Times of allegations that

Polls conducted by the national media suggested that there could be a change of government in 2007—perhaps to some combination of the Fine Gael, Labour, and Green parties. Sinn Fein, the political wing of the illegal Irish Republican Army, had been characterized as untouchable by the mainstream parties, but with the ending of the IRA's campaign of violence and the possibility that Sinn Fein might hold the balance of power in a new Dail (parliament), some commentators speculated on the possibility of the party's having a role in a future government.

Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats were counting on the "feel-good factor" generated by the maturation of a state-backed savings scheme, which resulted in hundreds of thousands of savers reclaiming considerable sums, topped up by a government subvention of 25%. The ruling coalition also claimed credit for successfully negotiating another five-year agreement with the unions and other social partners that covered pay and related issues. Since the 1980s similar pacts had been seen as key to economic stability. On the negative side, the government parties faced criticism for ongoing difficulties with the health services, with the development of physical infrastructure, and with a controversial plan to disperse hundreds of thousands of civil servants from Dublin to regional towns and cities.

The year saw continuing concern about the performance of the national police service, the Garda Siochana (Guardians of the Peace). A series of judicial reports condemned corruption and a lack of discipline, while another inquiry criticized Garda's handling of a siege in which an armed mentally ill man was shot.

Former prime minister Charles Haughey died in June at age 80. (See Obituaries.) The most controversial political figure of latter decades, he had been disgraced by a judicial inquiry into corruption and had retreated from public life. The government accorded him a state funeral, to the disquiet of some sectors of public opinion.

The government continued to focus much energy on developments in Northern Ireland . Ahern and British Prime Minister Tony Blair set a deadline of November 24 for the political parties in Northern Ireland to agree on a method of sharing power in the Assembly and Executive there. Significant differences appeared to divide the parties, however, and the deadline for achieving a devolved government was pushed to March 26, 2007.

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