Celtic League (political Organisation) - Political Status of Countries

Political Status of Countries

The political status of the Celtic League's suggested six Celtic nations varies widely. Both the UK and France were traditionally very centralised states (although France more so).

The following Celtic nations have some degree of autonomy, although Ireland consists of the territory of two sovereign states:

• Ireland:
  • Republic of Ireland (26 counties) - independent.
  • Northern Ireland (6 counties) - under the Good Friday Agreement some autonomy and various provisions were granted on a power-sharing basis, but various controversies between unionists and republicans have caused the British government to rule directly. Northern Ireland now has its own devolved Assembly since 2007.
• The Isle of Man - home rule, a British Crown Dependency outside the UK and European Union, arguably the oldest continuous parliament in the world.
• Scotland - has had its own devolved Parliament since 1999.
• Wales - has had its own devolved Assembly since 1999.

There is also a campaign for a Cornish Assembly. In 2000 the Cornish Constitutional Convention launched the Declaration for a Cornish Assembly campaign. In less than two years, more than 50,000 people signed the Assembly petition and Lord Whitty, in the House of Lords, recognised that Cornwall has a "special case" for devolution. On a visit to Cornwall, John Prescott said "Cornwall has the strongest regional identity in the UK."

Thus three of the countries are completely within the United Kingdom, one partially, and another is a British dependency. Brittany is part of the French state, and does not have any legislative autonomy, but four départements have some financial autonomy as one of the Regions of France, whilst the fifth département is in another French region. The Republic of Ireland is completely independent.