Chapter one looks at the history of Ireland starting with its two jurisdictions Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. Ireland got its independence in 1922. The book refers to the Republic of Ireland as the "Republic". Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom. When the republic got its independence the island was divided into thirty-two counties. The Republic controlled twenty-six of those counties. France and America had a huge influence on the people of Ireland resisting the British. The first attempt to gain independence was in 1798. Wolfe Tone attempted to overthrow the British, but he failed both militarily and politically. The Great Famine between 1845 and 1851 killed one million people. Th

is famine was a result of a failure in the potato crop. Around this time is when many Irish people came to America for new hope. In 1918 the parliament was formed called Dail Eireann by Sinn Fein the party that won the majority of seats in the 1918 election. The two major political parties today are Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. The Irish constitution was formed in 1937. This was when De Valera was the leader of Fianna Fail and the Taoiseach or Prime Minister. Ireland in the World economy is in the semi-periphery or intermediate in status. Industry is locally owned and financed. Their economy in 1900 was dependent on agriculture, and is weak because of their lack of raw materials. Irelands main export was live cattle to Britain. After Ireland got its independence they began getting new exports like, butter and eggs. There was also more competition from neighboring nations, including Denmark and New Zealand. The World economic crisis of the 1920's and 30's caused Ireland to change from a free trade principle to protectionism. De Valera, who thought by protecting domestic markets from imports it would give them a better chance to get established, brought this change into affect. This regime lasted until the 1950's. In 1973 Ireland became a member of the European Community.

Chapter four is about the policy process. One of the major things that has been happening in Ireland during the past fifteen years is overseas companies coming to Ireland and setting up business. "There has been more than 850 overseas companies in the past fifteen years" (Collins 50). This means most of the major decisions are made from other Countries. During the 1950's Ireland began to shift away from protectionism. Their new emphasize was on education and computer literacy. The major people involved in the policy process are higher level bureaucracy, economic pressure groups, major companies, and senior politicians. The government sets the amount of money to be spent in each area like defense, and health. Then people from inside these areas decide how to allocate those resources. Government departments are organized on functional lines to cover the major areas of policy. Departments are staffed by civil servants; the most senior is the secretary.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Employees Ownership, Community Chapter, Progressive Democrats, Northern Ireland, Irish Free, Catholic Irish, Irelands Constitution, Wolfe Tone, Bills Dail, Waterford Galway, northern ireland, bunreacht na heireann, na heireann, bunreacht na, local government, republic ireland, de valera, fianna fail, ireland independence, twenty-six counties, fine gael, northern ireland northern, fianna fail fine, ireland ireland independence, ireland northern ireland,
Approximate Word count = 1821
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)