Ireland left the Commonwealth of Nations in 1949 after more than three centuries of British rule, but the six counties of Northern Ireland remained in the United Kingdom. In 1973, Ireland joined the European Community (EC) as part of the 'Northern Enlargement', together with Great Britain and Denmark. In 1998, the 'Good Friday Agreement' brought an end to armed conflict in Northern Ireland. With the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009, the European Community was dissolved and the European Union (EU) became its legal successor. After difficult years, there was a strong economic recovery from 1995 to 2007, supported by EU structural funds, which earned Ireland the nickname "Celtic Tiger". In 2002, Ireland (along with 11 other eurozone countries) adopted the euro as its currency. The global financial crisis of 2007/2008 hit Ireland particularly hard, especially as speculative bubbles such as those in the property sector burst. The UK's withdrawal from the EU, known as 'Brexit', following a 2016 referendum on 31 January 2020, moved the EU's external border into the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Northern Ireland to ensure a continued control-free land border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom, thus remained legally in the EU. |
