Ireland became part of the world history in 1922, after the country had spent nearly eight centuries under the British rule, and the previous four years of conflicts following the Declaration of Independence made by the Irish Parliament (Dail) on 21 January 1919.  
The Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed on 6 December 1921, gave birth to a mutilated new state, divided into Irish Free State and Northern Ireland, the last one continuing to be governed within the United Kingdom.
This partition, that influenced the whole Irish history, caused the outbreak of a civil war soon after the republic was founded in June 1922. The unrest that arose came to an end only in the month of May of the following year. The Northern Ireland situation and the clashing relationship with Great Britain, on which Ireland depended, marked the Irish history during the 20th century.
On the one hand, the strong tendency towards unification in the new-born country is reflected in the popularity of the two nationalist parties (Fianna Gail and Fine Gail) that have governed Ireland since its independence was established. On the other hand, the British inheritance is still part of the Irish institutions, traditions and way of living, even though some attempts have been made in order to distinguish from the British culture, e. g. through the use of Gaelic as the official language together with English.
Between the two World Wars, Ireland tried to define its own position in the international context and to enhance its national stability, in order to meet the expectations of a very poor population made up of many emigrants. The country remained neutral during both the Second World War and the Cold War.
Even though this neutrality was not set out in the Constitution, it was part of the “material constitution” and it represented the point of view of most Irish people. When it acceded to the European Economic Community in 1973, Ireland came to a turning point. Before that moment it was the poorest western European country with a substantial emigration.
During the last thirty years though, it underwent an impressive change, and now Ireland is starting the third millennium with a per capita income which is 25% higher than the EU average. This successful development, that started silently during the 70’s and increased progressively in the 80’s, is due to a clever threefold “policies mix”.
First, the wise use of the funding received by the ECC; second, a tax policy that promoted both the location of companies in Ireland and the direct foreign investment; third, the overcoming of the geographical limit of being an island, thanks to the virtual products of the new economy and to a well-educated English speaking population.
The Northern Ireland problem, that reached its highest level of tension during the 70’s and 80’s because of  the IRA terrorist activity, seemed to have come to an end after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, in 1998. Nevertheless, this problem has still been at issue since Autumn 2002, when the institutions provided for in such agreement collapsed and the Government in London took the direct control again. After the summit that took place in Downing Street on 13 October 2003, the achievement of a long lasting peace and of a political settlement in Northern Ireland seemed very near.
Several aspects of the agreement between the Ulster Unionists and Sinn Fein have been worked out, but it still remains uncertain nowadays. A final agreement could assure that IRA ceases its paramilitary activity and UUP moderate unionists accept to share their power with Sinn Fein within a new executive. In the general elections for the Northern Assembly, that took place on 23 November 2003, Sinn Fein won 24% of the votes, while SDLP came to a standstill (it obtained 17% of the votes versus 22% in 1998). Finally, DUP had the relative majority of  the votes (26%) while UUP obtained 23%.
This new political scenery undermined the Belfast Agreement, and the peace process ran the risk of being interrupted.After more than one year and a half of troubles, the IRA announced the ceasefire and the hopes were fostered of a complete restoration of the institutions established under the Good Friday Agreement.
When the following announcement about the dismantling of IRA’s military arsenal was made on 26 September, by General John de Chastelain, chairman of the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning , the hopes were strengthened for both a peaceful solution of the Northern Ireland problem and the renewal of the political dialogue between the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom.

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