Ireland Business Profile
Uploaded by mpe_04 on Mar 09, 2008
2. Country environments:
2.1. General information:
Size/area (in sq. km): 84,412 km² (32,591 sq mi)
Capital city: Dublin
Climate: Overall, Ireland has a mild, but changeable, Oceanic climate with few extremes
Population: slightly under six million (2006/7), with almost 4.25 million in the Republic of Ireland (1.7 million in Greater Dublin) and an estimated 1.75 million in Northern Ireland (0.6 million in Greater Belfast).
Racial: Caucasian
Ethnic groups: largely homogeneous, Irish, with English minority, Irish, Anglo-Irish, Ulster-Scots, others
Location of the country in the world: It lies to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain.
2.2. Cultural environment:
Language- Irish (Gaeilge) is a Celtic language of the Goidelic branch spoken in Ireland
Religion (s): Roman Catholics (91.6 per cent); Protestants, the only significant religious minority (3 per cent); small communities of Jews (0.04 per cent), and 12,000-15,000 Muslims (0.4 per cent), many of whom are refugees.
2.3. Political environment:
Political system: identify and describe the political system and the political conditions in your country. Take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic. The Uachtarán (President) is the head of state. The Taoiseach (Prime Minister) is the head of government, and of a pluriform multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the Oireachtas the bicameral national parliament, which consists of Dáil Éireann and Seanad Éireann. The Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. While there are a number of important political parties in the state, the political landscape is dominated by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, historically opposed and competing entities. The state is a member of the European Union.
A number of political parties are represented in the Dáil and coalition governments are common. Neither of the two largest parties, Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, strongly identifies itself as either a left or right-wing group. The third largest party in the state is the centre-left Labour Party. Labour is joined on the left by the Green Party and on the far-left by Sinn Féin and the Socialist Party. The right is represented by the Progressive Democrats who are classical neo-liberals with regard to economic policy. Independent TDs (MPs) also play an important role in Irish politics.
2.4. Economic environment:
Years GDP/GNP Population Per capita income
$ Million % growth In million % growth GDP/Pop. % growth
1996 62,150.20 ------------- 3.63 ------------ 17,121.26 ---------------
1997 71,855.29 15.6 3.67 1.1 19,579.09 14.4
1999 85,232.14 18.6 3.70 0.8 23,035.71 17.6
1999 119,405.68 40.0 3.75 1.3 31,841.51 38.2
2000 142,380.21 19.2 3.8 1.3 37,841.51 17.6
2001 159,006.01 11.6 3.86 1.5 41,193.26 9.94
2002 176,970.38 11.2 3.93 0.9 45,030.63 9.31
2003 189,211.68 6.91 3.99 1.5 47,421.47 5.30
2004 200,961.41 6.20 4.07 2.0 49,376.26 4.12
2005 219,473.90 9.2 4.14 1.7 53,013.01 9.31
3. Trade and foreign direct investment...