election results: Mary MCALEESE elected president; percent of vote -
Mary MCALEESE 44.8%, Mary BANOTTI 29.6%

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament or Oireachtas consists of the
Senate or Seanad Eireann (60 seats - 49 elected by the universities and
from candidates put forward by five vocational panels, 11 are nominated
by the prime minister; members serve five-year terms) and the House of
Representatives or Dail Eireann (166 seats; members are elected by popular
vote on the basis of proportional representation to serve five-year terms)
election results: Fine Gael 16, Labor Party 4, Progressive Democrats
4, others 7; House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NA%;
seats by party - Fianna Fail 80, Fine Gael 31, Labor Party 21, Progressive
Democrats 8, Green Party 6, Sinn Fein 5, others 15 elections: Senate -
last held NA August 1997 (next to be held NA August 2002); House of
Representatives - last held 17 May 2002 (next to be held NA May 2007)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (judges appointed by the president on
the advice of the prime minister and cabinet)

Political parties and leaders: Fianna Fail [Bertie AHERN]; Fine Gael
[Michael NOONAN]; Green Party [Trevor SARGENT]; Labor Party [Ruairi
QUINN]; Progressive Democrats [Mary HARNEY]; Sinn Fein [Gerry ADAMS];
Socialist Party [Joe HIGGINS]; The Workers' Party [Tom FRENCH]

Political pressure groups and leaders: NA

International organization participation: Australia Group, BIS, CCC,
CE, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EIB, EMU, ESA, EU, FAO, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC,
ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IEA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC,
IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM (guest), NEA, NSG, OAS
(observer), OECD, OPCW, OSCE, PFP, UN, UN Security Council (temporary),
UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNIKOM, UNITAR, UNMEE,
UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNTAET, UNTSO, UPU, WEU (observer), WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission: Ambassador Sean
O'HUIGINN chancery: 2234 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008
consulate(s) general: Boston, Chicago, New York, and San Francisco FAX:
[1] (202) 232-5993 telephone: [1] (202) 462-3939

Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission: Ambassador
Richard J. EGAN embassy: 42 Elgin Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 mailing
address: use embassy street address telephone: [353] (1) 668-7122/668-8777
FAX: [353] (1) 668-9946

Flag description: three equal vertica