QUERY RECEIVED:

“WHAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN NORTHERN IRELAND AND THE REPUBLIC OF IRELAND?”

RESPONSE:

The Republic of Ireland was made up of an area approximately 70,237 square kilometres (around 80 percent of Ireland’s total land area) and encompassing 26 counties. It was a constitutional republic governed by a president and a bicameral parliament.

Northern Ireland was an area of approximately 13,793 square kilometres and encompassing six counties of the region of Ulster in the north-east of the island. It was a part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, with governance of certain matters devolved to a democratic assembly, and other matters governed by the parliament of the United Kingdom.