Shared History and Institutions

The United Kingdom originated as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland in 1801. Until 1922 what is now the Republic of Ireland was an integral part of the United Kingdom. Ireland is not a foreign country for the purposes of UK law. The UK has an equivalent status under Irish law.

Personal and Family Ties

Ireland and the United Kingdom have the deepest ties of families, language and culture. Approximately 375,000 Irish born people live in the United Kingdom. Very many more by the children of one or both Irish parents. Most Irish families have first or second cousins in the United Kingdom.

What is less well known is that almost as many, 277,000 UK born residents live in the Republic of Ireland approximately 8% of the population.

Familiarity

English is the everyday language in Ireland. Almost everybody in Ireland has grown up fully immersed in UK newspapers magazines BBC, ITV and the other UK channels. Premier League and many lower division clubs are followed as closely in Ireland as an England.

There are almost 3 million visits l from Britain to Ireland annually. There are approximately 2.6 million visits el from Ireland to Britain annually. In 2017 5.5% of all UK exports (£34 billion) were to Ireland while imports from Ireland (£21 billion) comprised approximately 3.4% of all imports