Europe / Caspian / CIS
Country profile: Ireland
Location: | Western Europe, occupying five-sixths of the island of Ireland in the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Great Britain |
Climate: | temperate maritime; modified by North Atlantic Current; mild winters, cool summers; consistently humid; overcast about half the time |
Terrain: | mostly level to rolling interior plain surrounded by rugged hills and low mountains; sea cliffs on west coast |
Size: | 70280 sq. km total (Land area: 68890 sq. km Water area: 1390 sq.km) |
Population: | 4,156,119 (July 2008 est.) |
Languages: | English (official) is the language generally used, Irish (Gaelic or Gaeilge) (official) spoken mainly in areas located along the western seaboard |
Government: | republic, parliamentary democracy |
Capital city: | Dublin |
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 |
Currency: | euro (EUR) |
Licensing: |
Country profile
Celtic tribes arrived on the island between 600-150 B.C. Invasions by Norsemen that began in the late 8th century were finally ended when King Brian BORU defeated the Danes in 1014. English invasions began in the 12th century and set off more than seven centuries of Anglo-Irish struggle marked by fierce rebellions and harsh repressions. A failed 1916 Easter Monday Rebellion touched off several years of guerrilla warfare that in 1921 resulted in independence from the UK for 26 southern counties; six northern (Ulster) counties remained part of the UK.
In 1949, Ireland withdrew from the British Commonwealth; it joined the European Community in 1973. Irish governments have sought the peaceful unification of Ireland and have cooperated with Britain against terrorist groups. A peace settlement for Northern Ireland is being implemented with some difficulties. In 2006, the Irish and British governments developed and began to implement the St. Andrews Agreement, building on the Good Friday Agreement approved in 1998.
Energy production and consumption
Oil | Gas | |
Production: | 546 million cu m (2005 est.) | |
Consumption: | 192,000 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 3 billion cu m (2005 est.) |
Exports: | 23,360 bbl/day (2005 est.) | |
Imports: | 204,400 bbl/day (2005 est.) | 3 million cu m (2005 est.) |
Reserves: | 9 billion cu m (1 January 2006 est.) | |
Major fields: |
Ireland - recent news
27 Sep 23 |
Ireland: Ørsted secures solar and wind renewable energy contracts under Irish RESS 3 auction Ørsted has secured two contracts in the Irish Government’s third onshore Renewable Electricity Support Scheme (RESS 3) auction. The approved Ørsted projects were the 81 MW Garreenleen Solar Farm in Carlow, and the 43.2 MW Farranrory Onshore Wind Farm in Tipperary. |
19 Sep 23 |
Ireland: Lansdowne Oil & Gas provides update on arbitration process Lansdowne Oil & Gas has provided an update in respect of the arbitration process under the Energy Charter Treaty ('ECT') in respect of the Barryroe Lease Undertaking Application. |
18 Sep 23 |
Ireland: Ørsted and Terra Solar team up to develop 400 MW portfolio of solar energy in Ireland Ørsted has announced the development of a portfolio of Irish solar projects in a partnership with renewable energy developer Terra Solar, headquartered at NovaUCD in Dublin. With a capacity of up to 400 MW, the projects have the potential to power over 90,000 Irish homes. |
01 Aug 23 |
Ireland: Barryroe Offshore Energy appoints Examiner Barryroe Offshore Energy has announced that at a Court Hearing held earlier today Mr. Kieran Wallace of Interpath Advisory was appointed as Examiner to the Company. Mr. Wallace will now have an initial period of 70 days to ascertain whether he can formulate a scheme of arrangement for the Company in order to restructure its affairs. |
01 Aug 23 |
Ireland: Vargronn in partnership with Energia Group for developing offshore wind projects in Ireland, targeting up to 1.8 GW Offshore wind company Vårgrønn, a joint venture between Plenitude (Eni) and HitecVision, and the Irish renewable-focused integrated utility Energia Group, have announced a partnership to co-develop offshore wind projects in Ireland with a potential to deliver total capacity up to 1.8 GW by 2030. |
Ireland - more news
Other countries in this region
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- Armenia,
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- Azerbaijan,
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- Bosnia and Herzegovina,
- Bulgaria,
- Croatia,
- Cyprus,
- Czech Republic,
- Denmark,
- Estonia,
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- Finland,
- France,
- Georgia,
- Germany,
- Greece,
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- Hungary,
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- Lithuania,
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