Corruption in the Republic of Ireland

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Transparency International‘s 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index scored Ireland at 77 on a scale from 0 (“highly corrupt”) to 100 (“very clean”). When ranked by score, Ireland ranked 11th among the 180 countries in the Index, where the country ranked first is perceived to have the most honest public sector.^[1] For comparison with worldwide scores, the best score was 90 (ranked 1), the average score was 43, and the worst score was 11 (ranked 180).^[2] For comparison with regional scores, the highest score among Western European and European Union countries ^{[Note 1]} was 90, the average score was 65 and the lowest score was 42.^[3]

During the years before the Celtic Tiger (1995–2007), political corruption was at its worst with many politicians suspected of corruption, while financial corruption was at its peak during the Celtic Tiger years.^[4] In 2003 Ireland signed the United Nations Convention against Corruption treaty and ratified it on 11 November 2011.^[5]

Politics

Pre-partition

The Acts of Union (1800), which saw the Kingdom of Ireland become part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, was marked by bribery on a scale not seen before in Ireland.^[6][7] The Members of the Parliament of Ireland were induced by favours of titles and land to vote it out of existence.^[8]

Local politics in 19th century Ireland came to be dominated by either Irish nationalist or unionist local councils. Both were known for their corruption, which surpassed that in Britain.^[9][10]

1900–1940

The Irish Free State was established as, in all but name, an independent state in 1922. In the 1920s, politicians were even expected to reimburse the cost of meals, and some slept in their offices due to gunfire outside.^[11]

One major case of corruption in Ireland happened in County Wicklow; dubbed the Wicklow Gold Inquiry, it involved the distribution of mining licenses in 1935. The Minister for Industry and Commerce at the time, Seán Lemass, granted a mining licence to the politicians Michael Comyn and Bob Briscoe. These licenses covered an area of 2,982 acres in Wicklow. They both leased the land to a British mining company in exchange for £12,000 and royalties on any gold found. An inquiry was launched due to Patrick McGilligan of Cumann na nGaedheal accusing Lemass of favouring members of the Fianna Fáil political party. The inquiry cleared Lemass of any wrongdoing due to the fact that he did not benefit financially.^[11]