Honeymoon Tours Travel

It is easy to see Ireland as a lush, green island dotted with quaint, thatched cottages and friendly pubs filled with music, wit, and poetry. Despite the contrasting reality of rapid economic growth and fundamental political change, the tourist industry helps sustain this imaqe of rural bliss, and the genuine good humor of the people invariably makes Ireland a most welcoming place to visit.

History and religion have created two comunities in Ireland, with the protestant majority in the North determined to remain part of the United kingdom Bombings and shootings in the northern Ireland have tarnished the world’s view of the country, but the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 has brought new hopes for peace.

Despite the Troubles, the Irish retain e attitude that is both easy going forward-looking. Both parts of the island have young, highly educated populations. The Republic of Ireland formerly among the poorer countries of the European Union has one of its success stories. EU subsidies have improved the transport infrastructure and many multinationals especially computing, chemical, and telecommunications companies, have established subsidiaries in Ireland.

Since 1990, the economy has seen annual economic growth of between 7 and 11 percent. Young people protestant are not only staying in Ireland, but actually returning from abroad. Despite this high-tech revolution, agriculture remains a mainstay of the economy, with dairy cattle feeding on rich meadowlands and sheep grazing on the poorer upland pastures. The traditional Irish talent for breeding and training racehorses is undiminished. Tourism thrives with more than 5.5 million visitors to the Republic each year and Dublin is one of Europe's hotspots for a weekend break.