1. IRELAND AND THE UNITED KINGDOM
What is the U.K.?
What are the member countries and their capitals?
What is Great Britain?
What is the adjective of the United Kingdom?
When was the country founded?
How has it changed?
What is the Union Jack? What does it represent?
What problems have there been between Ireland
and the United Kingdom?

3. The green represents the Gaelic tradition of Ireland and the orange
represents the followers of William of Orange in Ireland, with white
representing peace between them.

4. 1)
What images spring to mind when you hear the country Ireland?
2)
What are the good things and bad things about Ireland?
3)
What is Ireland famous for?
4)
What do you know about Irish history?
5)
What images of Ireland do you have that
are beautiful and mysterious?
6)
What do you think about Ireland?
7)
What has Ireland given to the world?
8)
Would you like to visit Ireland, or live there?
9)
What do you know about the economy of Ireland?
IRELAND
10)
Who are the most famous Irish people you know?

5. 1)
How different is Ireland from other European countries?
2)
What do you know about Ireland’s culture?
3)
Do you think Ireland is a good tourist destination?
4)
What do you think Ireland will be like 50 years from now?
5)
Does your country have good relations with Ireland?
6)
What does your country have in common with Ireland?
7)
What is your idea of a typical Irish person?
8)
What things about Ireland do you think Irish people are proud of?
9)
What do you know about Ireland’s geography?
10)
What would you like to ask an Irish person about Ireland?

6. Famous Irish People

7. In 1801 all of Ireland was formally integrated into
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, governed from London; the Irish
Parliament was closed and Irish Members sat at
Westminster.
The adjective used to describe the people was British.

8. The Union Jack is a combination of St. Andrew's Cross (Scotland), St. George's
Cross (England), and St. Patrick's Cross (Ireland).

9. Catholics’ civil rights were severely impaired in this new state. For example,
they had no right to education, could not enter into the professional classes
and could not sit in parliament
In 1823, an enterprising Catholic
lawyer, Daniel O'Connell, known in
Ireland as 'The Liberator' began an
ultimately successful Irish
campaign to achieve emancipation,
and be seated in the parliament.
This culminated in O'Connell's
successful election in the Clare by-
election, which revived the
parliamentary efforts at reform.
The Catholic Relief Act 1829 was
eventually approved by the U.K.
parliament under the leadership of
Prime Minister, the Dublin born
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of
Wellington.

10. Ireland's Great Famine, An Gorta Mór, struck the country severely in the
period 1845-1849, with potato blight, exacerbated by the political and laisse-
faire economic factors of the time leading to mass starvation and emigration.
British rule in Ireland was blamed.

11. The impact of emigration during and following the famine, as well as deaths
caused for the blight, was severe; the population dropped from over 8 million
before the Famine to 4.4 million in 1911.

12. Gaelic or Irish, once the spoken language of the entire island, declined in use
sharply in the nineteenth century as a result of the Famine and the creation
of the National School education system, which didn’t teach the vernacular. It
was largely replaced by English. However, its beginning to make a comeback...

13. Sackville Street in Dublin in the United Kingdom, c. 1908

14. A failed militant attempt was made to gain separate independence for Ireland
with the 1916 Easter Rising, an insurrection in Dublin. Though support for the
insurgents was small, the violence used in its suppression led to a swing in
support of the rebels.
Unwilling to negotiate any understanding with
Britain short of complete independence, the
Irish Republican Army — the army of the newly
declared Irish Republic — waged a guerrilla
war, Irish War of Independence, until 1921.

15. In July 1921, the Irish and
British governments agreed
a truce that halted the war.
In December
1921, representatives of
both governments signed
an Anglo-Irish Treaty. This
created the Irish Free
State, a self-governing
Dominion of the
Commonwealth of Nations
in the manner of Canada
and Australia.
The newly formed nation
declared itself a republic in
1949.

16. The six counties of the largely
protestant north remained part
of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Northern Ireland.

17. Bloody Sunday
The British army has
committed many heinous acts
of brutality on Irish soil. The
two most notorious being the
bloody Sunday events of 1920
and 1972.
The I.R.A. has also committed terrible atrocities.

18. For many, the struggle against British rule in Ireland continued, unabated, until the
ceasefires of 1996. The peace process which ensued culminated in the good Friday
agreement. This guaranteed the rights of all of Northern Ireland’s citizens and put
their destiny in their own hands.
This agreement, supported by the vast majority of both sides of the conflict, has led to
an unprecedented 15 years of peace on the island.

19. The Queen’s historic visit to the Irish Republic
She was the first British monarch to visit Ireland since its independence, and it could all have
gone horribly wrong. Instead, it was pitch perfect, right from the emerald green dress she wore
on arrival to that brief bow of respect at the garden of remembrance and the Gaelic
introduction to her speech at Dublin castle.

20. 1)
Is Britain great? Britain
2)
What is the difference between Great Britain, England and the United
Kingdom?
3)
What do you know about British food and weather?
4)
What would you like to do and see in Britain on a three-week holiday?
5)
How do you think British people would describe their country?
6)
Do you think Britain has too much political power in the world?
7)
Would you like to live in Great Britain?
8)
What parts of British culture are popular in your country?
9)
Does your country have good relations with Britain?
10)
What do you think when you the Union Jack?

21. 1)
What do you know about Great Britain?
2)
Britain
How important is Britain in the world?
3)
How did Britain lose its empire?
4)
What has Great Britain contributed to the world?
5)
Would you like to speak with a British accent?
6)
Who is the most famous British person ever?
7)
What is Britain most famous for?
8)
What mistakes has Great Britain made?
9)
Do you like British fashion and music?
10)
What do you think of the British Queen?

22. FREEDOM DISCUSSION
1) What comes to mind when you hear the word ‘freedom’?
2) Do you have as much freedom as you want in your life?
3) Do you have as much freedom as you want in your country?
4) In what ways does your country take away your freedom?
5) Was there a time in your life when you had a lack of freedom?
6) Is everyone in your country equally free?
7) What would it be like to live where there is little freedom of choice?
8) Do men or women have more freedom in your country?
9) Can freedom damage a country?
10) Where in the world do you think is the greatest freedom?

23. FREEDOM DISCUSSION
1) What is freedom?
2) How important is freedom for you?
3) Would you fight for your freedom?
4) Is working 40 hours a week closer to freedom or slavery?
5) What does freedom feel like?
6) Do you agree we must be free to bear arms (have a gun)?
7) How often do you think about freedom?
8) What kind of stories do you hear in the news related to freedom?
9) Do you think many people misunderstand the concept of freedom?
10) The philosopher Rousseau said “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in
chains". What do you think of this?