Politics in Ireland is something of a national obsession. Despite a decline in voter turnout in recent general elections, politics still attracts huge interest and controversy. Powerful political figures like Charles Haughey, Eamon de Valera, Charles Stewart Parnell and Daniel O'Connell dominated Irish politics at different times over the past two centuries and defined their eras. The great election campaigns waged by these politicians, and the controversies in which they were involved, have left a deep imprint on all aspect of Irish life, from law to literature; from economics to family life. This book gives us a concise overview of Irish political life, from the Act of Union to the present day.