Irish Politics

The political institutions set up in Northern Ireland as part of the peace process have been suspended by the British government. How did this happen? Does anyone have any ideas on how to get the political process working again?

The next year could see impassioned debate in the Republic over the merits of changing Ireland's method of electing its politicians. The current Minister for the Environment, Fianna Fail's Noel Dempsey, has been a strong supporter of electoral reform for some time now and has been "floating" the idea in the ...

If there is ever a Nobel Prize awarded for political miracle-working, George Mitchell has a strong case for being its first recipient. Last week the former US Senator, in his role as chairman of the "review" phase of the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland, concluded another agreement between Sinn Fein ...

The Labour Party has held onto its seat in the Dublin South-Central by-election, but the result was not exactly a ringing endorsement of its candidate. Activists from all parties had feared that turnout for the by-election, necessitated by the death of TD Pat Upton, might only be around 35%. In the ...

Recent events in Dublin have served to graphically illustrate the internal problems that are being suffered within the "left unity" camp in the Republic. In a country dominated by two right-of-center parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael, the mainstream left is struggling to become a more powerful player in the politics ...

So, you know what the IRA is. How about the CIRA? ORM? INLA? IPLO? Over the last 30 years there have been quite a number of republican paramilitary groups active in Northern Ireland, not to mention the various other "flags of convenience" that these groups have sometimes used. The common ancestor ...

With the UUP's rejection of the "Way Forward" proposal that would have kept the Northern Irish peace process on track, they have plunged the province into deep uncertainty.

Don't understand Northern Irish politics? It is a very complicated topic and one that really demands a lot of study before one can grasp it well, but here's a brief overview that will get you started if you don't know much about this troubled area yet. It gives a bit of ...

Who are the main parties in the Irish Republic? What seperates them? Here is a "pocket guide" to political parties in the Republic, describing what has been called the "Civil War" politics of the nation. Look for a similar guide to political parties in the north of Ireland, or Northern Ireland, ...

Current developments in the Northern Irish peace process