Post-Imperial Era Government in Ireland

          After Great Britain relinquished its hold on the southern portion of the isle, the Republic of Ireland was born- as well as the country of Northern Ireland, which the United Kingdom maintained its sovereignty over.  The two countries have highly contrasting forms of governance, due to the fact that one is a Republic while the other has allowed a Constitutional Monarchy to rule over it.


           The Republic of Ireland identifies itself as a Constitutional Republic, defined by a Parliamentary system.  The President serves as head of state, is elected for a seven-year term and may be re-elected once. The Local Government Act of 1898 defined the terms for local government in the Republic.  It divided the country into a "first tier" of 34 councils of cities and counties, as well as a second tier of 5 borough councils and 75 town councils.  The counties of the state are divided into eight regions, each with an elected official similar to a Governor presiding over them.

           This all stands in stark contrast to the Government of Northern Ireland which, being a peripheral extension of the United Kingdom itself, shares its political systems.  Likewise, it is overseen by the Prime Minister and the Monarch of Great Britain.  However, one similarity between the two governments of Ireland is that both are headed by a Parliament.  Nevertheless, Northern Ireland's Parliament is the United Kingdom Parliament, which is responsible for reserved and excepted matters within the northern half of the isle.
   Despite this, Northern Ireland's legal jurisdiction is distinct from those of England and Wales and Scotland, with laws that develop from the Partition of Ireland, which divided Ireland into two countries in 1921. Consequently, Northern Ireland retains a legal system that has elements of the former Parliament of Northern Ireland and the Parliament of Ireland.