The Republic of Ireland is a parliamentary republic. The Constitution of Ireland divides power into three branches: a legislative branch, an executive branch, and a judicial branch. For the legislative branch, the Oireachtas (the national parliament), which consists of the Dáil, the Seanad, and the President, makes laws. The executive power to execute and carry out laws is given to the Government. The judicial branch, which consists of the courts system, interprets and applies the laws.

English and Irish (Gaeilge) are the official languages in the Republic of Ireland. Article 8 of the Constitution indicates the following: 

1 The Irish language as the national language is the first official language.

2 The English language is recognised as a second official language.

In 2007, Irish became an official language of the EU, but it was not until 1 January 2022 when the Irish language became on equal footing as other official EU languages. For more information about this, see the REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL on whether the Union institutions have sufficient available capacity for the Irish language, relative to the other official EU languages.

Country profiles are helpful sources to familiarize yourself with the culture, economy, and political system of another country.