Ireland (Nuclear Apocalypse: 2014)

Ireland, officially the Republic of Ireland, is an island nation located off the coast of mainland Europe in the North Atlantic.

History
A unified independent Irish sovereign state originated as the Irish Free State in 1922 after three years of rebellion and later civil war. When Ireland gained independence, it held the status of a British Commonwealth Dominion until a new constitution was adapted in 1937. Ireland would not be officially declared a republic until 1949.

Ireland held no formal relations with Northern Ireland throughout much of the twentieth century. In fact, Northern Ireland was divided by a brutal civil war caused by separate loyalties. Some supported unifying with the republic while others wanted to remain British subjects. The governments of the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom worked with parties in Northern Ireland to achieve a resolution to the civil conflict, best known as "the Troubles". Since the Good Friday Agreement was signed in 1998, the Northern Ireland Executive and the government of Ireland worked closely on a number of policy areas under the North-South Ministerial Council created by the Agreement.

Despite begin a member-state of both the European Union and the Partnership for Peace (a NATO program), Ireland has followed a policy of military neutrality. The Republic of Ireland was spared from the Nuclear Exchange the destroyed much of the Northern Hemisphere.

Government
Ireland is a unitary republic with a parliamentary system. The legislature, the Oireachtas, consists of a lower house, Dáil Éireann, an upper house, Seanad Éireann, and an elected President (Uachtarán) who serves as the largely ceremonial head of state, but with some important powers and duties. The head of government is the Taoiseach (Prime Minister, literally 'Chief', a title not used in English), who is elected by the Dáil and appointed by the President; the Taoiseach in turn appoints other government ministers.