The top level of competition in the Irish rugby union system is the Pro12 (currently known for sponsorship purposes as the RaboDirect Pro12), a league of professional teams originally from Ireland, Scotland, and Wales that expanded to include two Italian teams in the 2010–11 season. Ireland currently has four entries in the RaboDirect Pro12.
Ireland also has a domestic competition the All Ireland League and Provincial Leagues run by the different provincial branches of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU).
Read more about Irish Rugby Union System: RaboDirect Pro12, All Ireland League, Provincial Leagues
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“I hope you will not be washed away by the Irish sea.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“At all events, as she, Ulster, cannot have the status quo, nothing remains for her but complete union or the most extreme form of Home Rule; that is, separation from both England and Ireland.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)
“In the course of the actual attainment of selfish ends—an attainment conditioned in this way by universality—there is formed a system of complete interdependence, wherein the livelihood, happiness, and legal status of one man is interwoven with the livelihood, happiness, and rights of all. On this system, individual happiness, etc. depend, and only in this connected system are they actualized and secured.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)