Ireland Today

Navigating a good conversation in Ireland can be as tricky as driving its winding coastal lanes, but armed with these pointers it can be equally as rewarding.

Crime

The U.S. Overseas Security Advisory Council cites Ireland as a low-risk country when it comes to crime. Violent crime is rare and it is largely confined to rival drug gangs in the capital and other metropolitan areas. Sensible precautions mitigate any risk. Dial 999 or 112 for emergency.

Culture

Despite the fact that Ireland is now a major European technology hub, the nation’s fondness for the written word is as powerful as ever. Few may match the talent of Shaw, Wilde, Joyce, and W. B. Yeats, but the popularity of bestselling writers such as Anne Enright, Edna O’Brien, Sally Rooney, Roddy Doyle, Colum McCann, Colm Tóibín, John Banville, and Martin McDonagh, is testament to the continuation of a rich literary tradition. A new youthful charge of novelists includes Anna Burns, Lisa McInerney, Eimear McBride, Kevin Barry, and Donal Ryan, while playwrights such as Conor McPherson, Martin McDonagh, and Enda Walsh tell Irish stories to a world audience.

In the movie world, writer-directors Neil Jordan, John McDonagh, and Noel Pearson portray the warts-and-all visions of modern Ireland. The work of Owen McCafferty has been adapted for the romantic drama Ordinary Love, starring Liam Neeson.

Economics

By the start of the third decade of the 21st century, Ireland’s economy is expanding rapidly despite continuing uncertainty about the long-term consequences of Brexit. The country has a vibrant entrepreneurial spirit with a newfound business confidence, and commentators believe that it has turned the economic corner. The Dublin skyline is filled with a record of more than 120 cranes, seen by pundits who keep a close eye on the financial development sector as a healthy economic indicator.

While the economy is typically no laughing matter, true to Irish form an annual festival combines stand-up comedy with the serious topic of economics, to create the successful Kilkenomics (www.kilkenomics.com) event.

Humor

When the Nobel prize-winning German author Heinrich Böll came to Ireland in the 1950s, he detected that the most common saying used to describe any alarming situation was: "Sure it could be worse." Seventy years on this mantra still holds true and Ireland is filled with tongue-in-cheek banter and self-deprecating humor. A large dose of cynicism, accompanied by dark comedy, is a coping mechanism for dealing with events over which there is no control.

Media

The three bastions of Irish daily news are the Irish Times (www.irishtimes.com), the Irish Independent (www.independent.ie), and the Irish Examiner (www.irishexaminer.com). Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTE) is the state-controlled and publicly subsidized national broadcaster. Newstalk is a populist, 24-hour current affairs and opinion radio station.

Politics

The staid duopoly of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael was smashed apart when the Irish republican party Sinn Féin achieved the largest share of first-preference votes in the country’s 2020 general election to become a force in the Irish Dáil (Parliament). For many years, the center-right coalition government had success with its liberal social agenda, but the face of Irish politics is changing dramatically, reflected also in the rising support for the progressive Green Party' s focus on social justice and the environment. Vital issues relating to housing, homelessness, health, and the slow decline of small towns crying out for regeneration, are a major concern. The Irish are fascinated by American politics, so expect to hear as much about U.S. goings-on as Irish.

Religion

Radical changes–-part of a rapid shift in social attitudes unimaginable a generation ago–-have taken place since Ireland became the first country in the world to vote overwhelmingly in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage. While it remains a predominantly Catholic country, the church’s domination and influence has declined. A combination of sex scandals, along with the historic referendum which legalized the strict abortion laws, and the appointment of an openly gay Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, have reconfigured the social landscape resulting in a more outward-looking pluralist democracy. In Northern Ireland too, the criminal ban on abortion fell in 2019 and the remaining legal impediments to same sex marriage were cleared to allow the first civil partnerships to take place.

Sports

Depending on what county you are in, and the time of year, soccer, rugby, Gaelic football, or hurling talk can dominate any social gathering. Shane Lowry, who plays his golf at the small Esker Hills club in Offaly, lifted the country’s spirits when he won the British Open in 2019; in between his fights, the boxer Conor McGregor has managed to launch his own brand of Irish whiskey. At the local level, Gaelic football and hurling are widely played throughout the country and are part of the sporting fabric of every parish. County is pitted against county, passions run deep, and it culminates each September at the All-Ireland championship finals in Croke Park, Dublin, the largest stadium in the country.