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Ireland is the third largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island in the globe. It mendacity to the north-west of continental Europe and is bounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain. Politically, the state Ireland covers five-sixths of the island, with Northern Ireland, part of the United Kingdom, covering the remainder in the north-east. Ireland competes annually in the Six Nations finals and in the Rugby World Cup every four years where they have been eliminated at the quarter-final step in all but two competitions. They also manifestation a quarter of the British and Irish Lions. Eight prior Ireland players have earned induction into the International Rugby Hall of Fame.

In 1937 Ireland became the successor-state to the Irish Free State. Ireland was one of the poorest countries in Western Europe and had high mass departure. The protectionist financial system was opened in the late 1950s and Ireland joined the European Communities in 1973. A financial crisis led Ireland to start large-scale financial reforms in the late 1980s. Ireland reduced taxation and directive noticeably compared to other EU countries. Ireland is currently rated as having the fifth uppermost disgusting family product per capita and the eighth highest gross home product per capita allowing for purchasing power parity and having the fifth uppermost Human growth Index rank. The country also boasts the highest excellence of life in the world, ranking first in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Quality-of-life index.

Ireland was ranked sixth on the Global Peace Index. Ireland also has high rankings for its education system, political liberty and civil rights, press independence and financial freedom; it was also ranked fourth from the bottom on the unsuccessful States Index, being one of the few "sustainable" states in the world. The official languages are Irish and English. Teaching of the Irish and English languages is essential in the primary and inferior level schools that receive money and credit from the state. Some students may be excused from the requirement to receive instruction in either language