Country profile · Western Europe
Ireland
Ireland is an island country of about 5.5 million people in the European Union. It is militarily neutral and outside NATO. US companies make it one of the richest countries in the world by GDP per person. Taoiseach Micheál Martin leads a coalition of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, and Ireland holds the EU Council presidency until December 2026.
Where Ireland ranks
All rankings →Which alliances is Ireland in?
All alliances →Who runs Ireland?
Ireland is a parliamentary republic. Taoiseach (prime minister) Micheál Martin was born in Cork in 1960 and briefly taught history. He has led Fianna Fáil since 2011 and was Taoiseach from 2020 to 2022. He took the job again on January 23, 2025, in a coalition with Fine Gael and a group of independents. Under their deal, Fine Gael leader Simon Harris, now Tánaiste (deputy prime minister) and finance minister, takes over on November 16, 2027. Fianna Fáil won 48 of the 174 seats in the Dáil in November 2024 (chart). Sinn Féin, a left-wing nationalist party led by Mary Lou McDonald, won 39 and leads the opposition. In October 2026 polls put Sinn Féin narrowly first, at about 19% to 21%. Catherine Connolly, a left-wing independent and critic of NATO, was elected president in October 2025 with about 63% of the vote. A record 17,885 people were in emergency homeless accommodation in August 2026.
- Fianna Fáil 48
- Sinn Féin 39
- Fine Gael 38
- Social Democrats 12
- Labour 11
- Independents 15
- Others 11
Photo (about 2020): Houses of the Oireachtas, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
Who are Ireland's allies and rivals?
Ireland is militarily neutral and has never joined NATO, but it joined NATO's Partnership for Peace in 1999. It spent about 0.2% of GDP on defense in 2025, the least of any EU country. Irish troops can deploy abroad in groups of more than 12 only with a UN mandate, a government decision and a vote in the Dáil. A bill introduced in June 2026 would drop the UN condition. President Catherine Connolly says only a referendum should change it. About three quarters of the Northern Hemisphere's undersea cables pass through or near Irish waters. Ireland's navy has escorted Russian ships out of its waters. Irish soldiers have served in UN peacekeeping since 1958, and 47 have died in Lebanon. The UN mission there ends on December 31, 2026. Ireland recognized the State of Palestine in May 2024, and Israel then announced it would close its embassy in Dublin. Since September 15, 2026, Ireland has banned goods from Israeli settlements, a law the US embassy called "unhelpful".
Allies and partners
United KingdomCommon Travel Area; defense memorandum renewed in 2026
United StatesBiggest export market and biggest investor
FranceIreland ordered five radars through France's arms agency
Ukraine€125 million of non-lethal aid pledged in 2026
- Haulbowline Naval Service base. In 2024 an Irish patrol ship escorted the Russian spy ship Yantar out of Irish waters.
- Russian drills Russia planned naval drills inside Ireland's economic zone in 2022. It moved them after Irish fishermen objected.
- Dublin Military-style drones flew near the flight path of Ukraine's President Zelensky as he arrived on December 1, 2025.
- Belfast Seat of Northern Ireland's government, led since 2024 by Michelle O'Neill of Sinn Féin.
- Ireland
- Partner
Who does Ireland trade with?
Ireland exported a record €260.3 billion of goods in 2025, 16% more than in 2024, and imported €144.0 billion (Central Statistics Office). The United States bought 43% of exports (chart). Medicines made up 53% of all goods exports. Eli Lilly's plant at Kinsale makes tirzepatide, the drug in the weight-loss injection Mounjaro. Drug companies shipped extra stock to the United States in 2025 before new US tariffs. In the first half of 2026, exports to the US fell 65%. Since 2026 the United States has charged up to 15% on branded medicines from the EU. Ireland also exports huge amounts of services. Computer services exports reached €278.7 billion in 2024, almost all from foreign-owned firms. About 245,000 people work for US companies in Ireland. Data centers used 23% of the country's electricity in 2025. The United Kingdom remains the second-largest source of imports.
Sells to
Share of Ireland's exports
- United States42.5%
Netherlands9.9%- United Kingdom8.0%
Belgium6.1%
Germany5.9%
Buys from
Share of Ireland's imports
- United States15.7%
- United Kingdom15.1%
- Germany11.1%
China8.9%- France8.6%
Goods, 2025, as reported by Ireland. UN Comtrade.
Why is Ireland so rich?
Ireland has the third-highest GDP per person in the world (IMF) (chart). That figure overstates how well off people are. Multinational companies record profits from patents and sales around the world in Ireland. In 2015 GDP grew 26.3% after companies moved assets there, and the economist Paul Krugman called it "leprechaun economics". Ireland's statistics office uses a separate measure, modified gross national income, which was 55% of GDP in 2025. Ireland has taxed company profits at 12.5% since 2003, which drew the European headquarters of many US firms. Since 2024 groups with revenue above €750 million pay at least 15%. Corporation tax brought in €34.7 billion in 2025. Foreign multinationals paid 87% of it, and just three companies paid about half. On September 10, 2024, the EU's top court ruled that Ireland had given Apple illegal state aid, and about €14 billion reached the state. Ireland needed an €85 billion EU and IMF bailout in 2010 and left the program in 2013.
GDP per person, 2025
Full ranking →
Luxembourg$148,247- Ireland$130,652
Switzerland$115,620
Norway$94,468- United States$89,991
Denmark$77,046- Germany$60,439
- United Kingdom$57,608
IMF World Economic Outlook (April 2026)
Will Ireland and Northern Ireland reunite?
In 1921 six counties in the northeast stayed in the United Kingdom as Northern Ireland. During the Troubles, from the late 1960s to the 1990s, more than 3,500 people were killed. The Good Friday Agreement of April 10, 1998, ended the conflict. Voters approved it by 94% in the Republic and 71% in Northern Ireland. Under the agreement, the UK government must call a referendum on unity if a majority seems likely to vote for it. In the 2021 census, Catholics outnumbered Protestants in Northern Ireland for the first time. Sinn Féin, whose Michelle O'Neill has led Northern Ireland's government since 2024, wants unity referendums by 2030. An Irish Times average of polls in October 2026 found 35% of people in Northern Ireland for unity and 48% against. UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham said on August 27, 2026, that a vote was "off the table". About 7.45 million people live on the island, fewer than the 8.2 million of 1841, before the Great Famine killed about a million.