Structure and composition
At the end of the eighteenth century, conduct books became one of the dominant genres of literature. They integrated the styles and rhetorics of earlier genres, such as devotional writings, marriage manuals, recipe books, and works on household economy. Conduct books offered their readers a description of the ideal woman (or man or servant, depending on the audience) while at the same time dishing out practical advice. Thus not only did they dictate morality, but they also guided readers' choice of dress and outlined "proper" etiquette.

Genre: the conduct book
Political radicals at the end of the eighteenth century, such as Wollstonecraft, focused their reform efforts on education, because they believed that if people were educated correctly, Britain would experience a moral and political revolution. Religious Dissenters, especially, embraced this view and Wollstonecraft's philosophy in Thoughts and elsewhere resembles very closely that of the Dissenters she met at Newington Green, such as the theologian, educator and scientist Joseph Priestley and the minister Richard Price. Dissenters "were most concerned with molding children into people of good moral character and habits".

Pedagogical theory
Thoughts advocates several educational goals for women: independent thought, rationality, self-discipline, truthfulness, acceptance of one's social position, useful skills and faith in God.

Themes
Wollstonecraft envisions the "daughters" in her book as one day becoming mothers and teachers. She does not propose that women abandon these traditional roles because she believes that it is as pedagogues that women can most effectively improve society. Wollstonecraft, and other writers as diverse as the evangelical moralist Hannah More, the historian Catherine Macaulay and the feminist novelist Mary Hays, argued that since women were the primary caregivers of the family and educators of children, they should be given a sound education. They decried the traditional and what they saw as decadent "accomplishment"-based education, which focused on "skills" such as dancing.

Education of women
While Wollstonecraft's comments on female education hint at some of her more radical arguments in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, the religious tone of the text, also found in Mary: A Fiction, is generally interpreted by scholars as conservative. The religion presented in Thoughts is one of the "pleasures of resignation", a belief that the afterlife is awaiting and that the world is ordered by God for the best.

Religion
Thoughts was moderately successful; it was reprinted in Dublin a year after its initial publication in London, extracts were published in The Lady's Magazine, and Wollstonecraft included excerpts from it in her own Female Reader (1789), an anthology of writings designed "for the Improvement of Young Women". The English Review noticed Thoughts favorably:
These thoughts are employed on various important situations and incidents in the ordinary life of females, and are, in general, dictated with great judgment. Mrs. Wollstonecraft appears to have reflected maturely on her subject; . . . while her manner gives authority, her good sense adds irresistible weight to almost all her precepts and remarks. We should therefore recommend these Thoughts as worthy the attention of those who are more immediately concerned in the education of young ladies.

Reception and legacy

Timeline of Mary Wollstonecraft See also

Modern reprints

Armstrong, Nancy. Desire and Domestic Fiction: A Political History of the Novel. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1987. ISBN 0195061608.
Jones, Vivien. "Mary Wollstonecraft and the literature of advice and instruction." The Cambridge Companion to Mary Wollstonecraft. Ed. Claudia Johnson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN 0521789524.
Jones, Vivien. "The Seductions of Conduct: Pleasure and Conduct Literature." Pleasure in the Eighteenth Century. Eds. Roy Porter and Marie Mulvey Roberts. London: Macmillan, 1996. ISBN 0814766447.
Kelly, Gary. Revolutionary Feminism: The Mind and Career of Mary Wollstonecraft. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1992. ISBN 0312129041.
Myers, Mitzi. "Pedagogy as Self-Expression in Mary Wollstonecraft: Exorcising the Past, Finding a Voice." The Private Self: Theory and Practice of Women's Autobiographical Writing. Ed. Shari Benstock. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1988. ISBN 0807817910.
Poovey, Mary. The Proper Lady and the Woman Writer. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984. ISBN 0226675289.
Richardson, Alan. "Mary Wollstonecraft on education." The Cambridge Companion to Mary Wollstonecraft. Ed. Claudia Johnson. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002. ISBN 0521789524.
Sapiro, Virginia. A Vindication of Political Virtue: The Political Theory of Mary Wollstonecraft. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992. ISBN 0226734919.
Sutherland, Kathryn. "Writings on Education and Conduct: Arguments for Female Improvement." Women and Literature in Britain 1700-1800. Ed. Vivien Jones. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2000. ISBN 0521586801.
Taylor, Barbara. Mary Wollstonecraft and the Feminist Imagination. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. ISBN 0521661447.
Todd, Janet. Mary Wollstonecraft: A Revolutionary Life. London: Weidenfeld and Nicholson, 2000. ISBN 0231121849.

Thomas Calabro (born on February 3, 1959 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actor. His most notable role was playing Dr. Michael Mancini on Melrose Place. He was the only cast member to stay on the show throughout its entire run from 1992 until 1999.
Calabro went to Fordham University where he got his "big break" when fellow student Denzel Washington had to drop out of the school's production of A Midsummer's Night Dream. Calabro took over the lead role of Oberon.

Dublin (Irish: Baile Átha Cliath,

Name

Main article: History of Dublin History

Culture
The city has a world-famous literary history, having produced many prominent literary figures. Indeed, as birthplace of William Butler Yeats, George Bernard Shaw and Samuel Beckett, Dublin has produced three winners of the Nobel Prize for Literature - more than any other city in the world [6]. Other, perhaps equally influential, writers and playwrights from Dublin include Oscar Wilde, Jonathan Swift and the creator of Dracula, Bram Stoker. It is arguably most famous, however, as the town of James Joyce. Dubliners is a collection of short stories by Joyce about incidents and characters typical of residents of the city in the early part of the 20th century. His most celebrated work, Ulysses, is also set in Dublin and full of topographical detail. Additional widely celebrated writers from the city include J.M. Synge, Seán O'Casey, Brendan Behan, Maeve Binchy, and Roddy Doyle. Ireland's biggest libraries and literary museums are found in Dublin, including the National Print Museum of Ireland and National Library of Ireland.
There are several theatres within the city centre, and various world-famous actors have emerged from the Dublin theatrical scene, including Stephen Rea, Colin Farrell and Gabriel Byrne. The best known theatres include the Gaiety, the Abbey, the Olympia and the Gate. The Gaiety specialises in musical and operatic productions, and is popular for opening its doors after the evening theatre production to host a variety of live music, dancing, and films. The Abbey was founded in 1904 by a group that included Yeats with the aim of promoting indigenous literary talent. It went on to provide a breakthrough for some of the city's most famous writers, such as Synge, Yeats himself and George Bernard Shaw. The Gate was founded in 1928 to promote European and American Avante Guarde works. The largest theatre is the Mahony Hall in The Helix at Dublin City University in Glasnevin.
Dublin is also the focal point for much of Irish Art and the Irish artistic scene. The Book of Kells, a world-famous manuscript produced by Celtic Monks in A.D. 800 and example of Insular art, is on display in Trinity College. The Chester Beatty Library houses the famous collection of manuscripts, miniature paintings, prints, drawings, rare books and decorative arts assembled by American mining millionaire (and honourary Irish citizen) Sir Alfred Chester Beatty (1875-1968). The collections date from 2700 B.C. onwards and are drawn from Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. Work by local artists is often put on public display around St. Stephen's Green, the main public park in the city centre. Numerous large art galleries are found across the city, including the Irish Museum of Modern Art, the National Gallery, the Hugh Lane Municipal Gallery, The City Arts Centre, The Douglas Hyde Gallery, The Project Arts Centre and The Royal Hibernian Academy.
Three centres of the National Museum of Ireland are in Dublin.

Literature, Theatre and the Arts
There is a vibrant nightlife in Dublin and it is one of the most youthful cities in Europe - an estimated 50% of inhabitants are younger than 25. Furthermore in 2007, it was voted the friendliest city in Europe [7]. Like the rest of Ireland, there are pubs right across the city centre, on almost every street.The area around St. Stephen's Green - especially Harcourt Street, Camden Street, Wexford Street and Leeson Street - is a centre for some of the most popular nightclubs and pubs in Dublin. The most internationally notorious area for nightlife is the Temple Bar area south of the River Liffey. To some extent, the area has become a hot spot for stag and hen parties (particularly from Britain) and tourists, causing some locals to steer clear at night. Nonetheless, it was originally redeveloped as Dublin's cultural quarter and retains part of this spirit in the form of street performers, drummers, and many intimate small music venues such as the temple bar music centre. Live Music is popularly played on streets and at venues throughout Dublin in general and the city has produced several rock bands of international success, perhaps the most famous being Thin Lizzy and U2. The two best known cinemas in the city centre are the Savoy Cinema and the Cineworld Cinema, both north of the Liffey. Alternative and special-interest cinema can be found in the Irish Film Institute in Temple Bar, and in the Screen Cinema on d'Olier Street. Numerous other cinemas are in the suburbs.

Nightlife and Entertainment
The headquarters of almost all of Ireland's sporting organisations are in Dublin, and the most popular sports in Dublin are those that are most popular throughout Ireland: Gaelic Football, Soccer, Rugby and Hurling.
The city is host to the 4th largest stadium in Europe[8], Croke Park, the 82,500-capacity headquarters of the Gaelic Athletic Association. It traditionally hosts Gaelic football and Hurling games during the summer months, as well as International rules football in alternating years. It also hosts concerts, with acts such as U2 and Robbie Williams having played there in recent years. The Dublin branch of the Gaelic Athletic Association play their league games at Parnell Park.
Lansdowne Road stadium is owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union and is the venue for home games of both the Irish Rugby Team and the Republic's national soccer team. Until recently, it had an all-seating capacity of 36,000 for soccer and mixed standing and seating capacity of 49,000 for rugby[9]. As of June 2007, it is currently being demolished and will be replaced with a state-of-the-art 50,000 all-seated stadium by 2009. Accordingly,Rugby and Soccer home internationals have been temporarily moved to Croke Park.
Donnybrook Rugby Ground is the home of the Leinster Rugby team, which plays in the Magners League. They also play some important league and Heineken Cup matches at Lansdowne Road.
Dalymount Park, in Phibsboro and the traditional Home of Irish Soccer, is now used only for home games of local club Bohemian FC. Rivals Shelbourne FC play at Tolka Park, in Drumcondra, while St Patrick's Athletic play in Richmond Park in Inchicore on the south west edge of the city. Shamrock Rovers, Ireland's most successful club, are originally from Milltown but have spent the last two decades in search of a home, and hope to complete a new stadium in Tallaght in 2007. The other senior soccer clubs are University College Dublin F.C., based in Belfield, and the now defunct Dublin City F.C. (formerly Home Farm F.C.).
The National Aquatic Centre in Blanchardstown is the first building to open in the Sports Campus Ireland. There are several race courses in the Dublin area including Shelbourne Park (Greyhound racing) and Leopardstown (Horse racing). The world famous Dublin Horse Show takes place at the RDS, Ballsbridge, which hosted the Show Jumping World Championships in 1982. There are also Basketball, Handball, Hockey and Athletics stadia — most notably Morton Stadium in Santry, which held the athletics events of the 2003 Special Olympics.
The Dublin Marathon has been run since 1980.

Sport
Dublin is a popular shopping spot for people from across Ireland and increasingly for tourists, and this popularity was strengthened in 2005 with the opening of one of the largest shopping centres in Europe in Dundrum, a 15-minute tram ride from the city centre. This addition to the city suburbs complimented the shopping districts in the city centre, where the focus has traditionally been on Grafton Street and Henry Street and the adjacent Stephen's Green Shopping Centre, Jervis Shopping Centre and newly refurbished Ilac Shopping Centre (all popular meet-up spots for decades). On Grafton street, the most famous shops include Brown Thomas and its sister shop BT2, being akin to Bloomingdales in New York City, for example. Brown Thomas also contains "mini-stores" such as Hermes and Chanel on its Wicklow Street frontage. This is Dublin's nearest equivalent to a Designer shopping street such as Bond Street in London or 5th Avenue in New York City.
Dublin also has a large range of department stores, such as Clerys on O'Connell Street, Arnotts on Henry Street, Brown Thomas on Grafton Street and Debenhams (formerly Roches Stores) on Henry Street.
A major €750m development for Dublin city centre has been given the green light. The development of the so-called Northern Quarter will see the construction of 47 new shops, 175 apartments and a four-star hotel. Dublin City Council gave Arnotts planning permission for the plans to change the area bounded by Henry Street, O'Connell Street, Abbey Street and Liffey Street. The redevelopment will also include 14 new cafes along with a 149-bed hotel. It is expected that work on the new area will start in the second half of 2008. Prince's street, which runs off O'Connell Street will become a full urban street and pedestrian thoroughfare.
There are many additional shopping centres throughout the suburbs such as Blanchardstown Centre, The Square in Tallaght (LUAS Red Line), Liffey Valley Shopping Centre in Clondalkin, OmniPark in Santry, Northside Shopping Centre in Coolock and many more.

Shopping
Despite having a long tradition of emigration that continued up until the early 1990s, Dublin now has a sizeable number of immigrants. Foreign nationals in Dublin are primarily young and single[10] and the biggest numbers come from across the European Union, particularly The United Kingdom, Poland and Lithuania but also from right across the European continent. There are also considerable and growing numbers from outside Europe, particularly China, Nigeria, the Philippines, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and Russia. This immigration has stimulated a new diversity in Dublin that, while still relatively moderate when compared to other European capital cities such as Paris and London, has brought a new dimension to life in the city and looks set to grow considerably in the future. 10% of the Republic of Ireland's population is now made up of foreign nationals, and Dublin is home to a disproportionate number of new arrivals to the country - for example, 60% of Ireland's Asian population lives in Dublin even though less than 40% of the overall population live in the Greater Dublin Area [11].One tangible manifestation of this multiculturalism is in the spread of new ethnic food stores, notably on Parnell Street and Moore Street.

Multicultural Dublin
A north-south division has traditionally existed in Dublin for some time, with the dividing line being the River Liffey. The Northside is seen by some as working-class, while the Southside is seen as middle and upper middle class. But this is not a clear divide in reality by any means. Dublin postal districts have odd numbers for districts on the Northside — for example, Phibsboro is in Dublin 7 — and even numbers for the Southside — for example, Sandymount is in Dublin 4. An exception to the rule is Dublin 8, which straddles the river.
This division dates back some centuries, certainly to the point when the Earl of Kildare built his residence on the then less-regarded Southside. When asked why he was building on the Southside, he replied "Where I go, fashion follows me", and he was promptly followed by most other Irish peers.
The Northside/Southside divide is punctuated by examples of Dublin "sub-culture" stereotypes, with upper-middle class constituents seen as tending towards an accent and demeanour synonymous with (but not exclusive to) the Dublin 4 postcode on the Southside (see Dublin 4, Ross O'Carroll-Kelly), and working-class Dubliners seen as tending towards accents and demeanour associated with (but not exclusive to) Northside and inner-city Dublin neighbourhoods often exemplified by the works of modern writer Roddy Doyle.
This simplification of economic and social communities in Dublin ("Southside rich, liberal and snobby"/"Northside poor, industrial and common") does not survive more than a few real-world examples however. For example, the President of Ireland's residence, Áras an Uachtaráin, is on the Northside, although its postal district is Dublin 8, a "Southside" number. Similarly, some of Dublin's majority working-class suburbs such as Tallaght, Dolphin's Barn, Crumlin, Inchicore, Ringsend, Irishtown, Clondalkin and Ballyfermot, are south of the river while wealthier suburbs such as Castleknock, Clontarf, Glasnevin, Howth, Malahide, Portmarnock and Sutton are on the Northside. Areas of the north inner city such as Smithfield, the IFSC and Spencer Dock are also associated with affluence in recent times.
The north-south divide has mellowed considerably in the past number of years. This is primarily due to the favourable economic conditions currently in Ireland and the emergence of the Celtic Tiger economy in Ireland, and to pressure on housing stock. Correspondingly, Dublin has progressed to become one of the wealthiest cities in Europe.
The economic divide in Dublin is east-west as well as north-south, the east side generally being wealthier than the west. There are significant social divisions between the coastal suburbs in the east of the city, including those on the Northside, and the newer developments further to the west.

Northside and Southside
Dublin is the primary centre of education in Ireland, with three universities and several other higher education institutions. There are 20 third-level institutes in the city. The University of Dublin is the oldest university in Ireland dating from the 16th century. Its sole constituent college, Trinity College, was established by Royal Charter under Elizabeth I and was closed to Roman Catholics until Catholic Emancipation; the Catholic hierarchy then banned Roman Catholics from attending it until 1970. The National University of Ireland has its seat in Dublin, which is also the location of the associated constituent university of University College Dublin (UCD), the largest university in Ireland; although it is located in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, just outside the city boundary. Dublin City University (DCU) is the most recent university and specialises in business, engineering, and science courses, particularly with relevance to industry. The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a medical school which is a recognised college of the NUI, it is situated at St. Stephen's Green in the city centre. The National University of Ireland, Maynooth, another constituent university of the NUI, is in neighbouring Co. Kildare, about 25 km from the city centre.
Dublin Institute of Technology (DIT) is a modern technical college and is the country's largest non-university third-level institution; it specialises in technical subjects but also offers many arts and humanities courses. It is soon to move to a new campus at Grangegorman. Two suburbs of Dublin, Tallaght and Blanchardstown have Institutes of Technology: Institute of Technology, Tallaght, and Institute of Technology, Blanchardstown.
The National College of Art and Design (NCAD) and Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (DLIADT) support training and research in art, design and media technology.
There are also various other smaller specialised colleges, including private ones:
The Gaiety School of Acting hosts both a two year intensive degree in acting and a three year undergraduate BA degree in acting in conjunction with Dublin City University, and Dublin Business School, located on Aungier Street. The New Media Technology College provides specialised courses in film, performing arts, information technology, photography, interactive media and music technology (including a Master's degree and FETAC courses). Education
The city of Dublin is the entire area administered by Dublin City Council, but can also refer to the contiguous suburban areas that run into the adjacent counties of Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown, Fingal and South Dublin. This area is sometimes known as 'Urban Dublin' or the 'Dublin Metropolitan Area'.
The population of the administrative area controlled by Dublin City Council was 505,739 at the census of 2006. At the same census, the Dublin Region population was 1,186,159, and the Greater Dublin Area 1,661,185. The city's population is expanding rapidly, and the Greater Dublin Area is estimated by the CSO to reach 2.1 million by 2021). Today, approximately 40% of the population of Ireland live within a 100 km (60mi) fan radius of this east coast city.

Population

Economy and infrastructure
Dublin has been at the centre of Ireland's phenomenal economic growth over the last 10-15 years, a period (often of double-digit growth) referred to as the Celtic Tiger years. Living standards in the city have risen dramatically, although the cost of living has also soared. Dublin is now the planet's 16th most expensive city (8th most expensive city in Europe, excluding Russian cities) [12]. However, it has the fourth highest wages for a city in the world, ahead of both New York City and London, though behind Zürich, Geneva and Oslo. While this represents a slowdown relative to the early Celtic Tiger years, it is still stronger than growth in most other wealthy countries.

Industry, Employment and Standard of Living
Dublin's public transport is underdeveloped compared to other European capitals, since it does not have an underground system or single integrated rail network that serves the whole city. This is set to change under the government's Transport 21 plan, which will be fully completed in phases by 2015. The current public transport system is made up of hundreds of bus routes, five suburban rail lines (one electrified) and two light rail lines.
In 2002 around 46% of Greater Dublin's commuters walked, cycled or used public transport to get to work.. The public transport network is governed by the Dublin Transportation Office.

Public transport
The bulk of the public transport system in Dublin consists of nearly 200 daytime Dublin Bus routes operated by Bus Átha Cliath (identified by number and sometimes suffixed with a letter, e.g. 40, 40A, 40B, 40C, 40D) and 24 "Nitelink" late night services, which run on Thursday to Saturday nights, identified by a number suffixed with "N" e.g. 40N). Nitelinks also run midweek coming up to Christmas and around certain other festivals. Apart from some tourist buses, all Dublin Bus services are one-person operated, and daytime fares are determined by the number of fare stages travelled through. Fares are payable in coin and only the exact fare is acceptable — if passengers overpay, they are issued "change tickets", which must be presented at the Dublin Bus office in O'Connell Street to be converted to cash. Various pre-paid tickets and passes can be bought from Dublin Bus or its agents, and are processed by a validating machine on the right of the entrance door of the bus. Nitelink buses charge a flat fare regardless of the distance travelled. A number of smaller other bus companies provide services as well.
Dublin Bus is sometimes criticised by commuters for overcrowding and under-serviced routes. Under Transport 21, Dublin Bus's passenger-carrying capacity will increase by 60% in phases by 2015, through new and replacement bus acquisition.

The present – Bus
The Dublin Suburban Rail network consists of five lines serving mainly the Greater Dublin Area, though some trains go further to commuter towns such as Drogheda. One of these lines runs along Dublin Bay and is known as the Dublin Area Rapid Transit (DART) line, and is the only electrified railway in the country. Over 80,000 people use the DART line every day.
Transport 21 will greatly expand the DART and Suburban rail system in Dublin. The single biggest project will be the Dublin Interconnector rail project, boring a tunnel under the city centre that will join Heuston station with Pearse station and a newly constructed Docklands station, via St Stephen's Green. The railway lines from heuston toward kildare (hazelhatch) and from the city centre to maynooth will be electrified, and the old line to navan re-opened and electrified. This will allow the creation of two separate but inter-connecting DART lines: one running from the north west (Dunboyne/Maynooth) through the city-centre to the south-east (Bray); and one running from south-west (Hazelhatch) through the city centre to the north-east (Howth/Balbriggin).
A two-line light rail/tram network called the Luas opened in 2004 to link the city centre with southern areas in the suburbs. It has proved popular in the areas it serves, although the lack of a link between the two lines is widely criticised. Transport 21 will join the two lines together in the city centre, one of seven Luas projects in the plan that will expand the network in the south and centre and introduce it to the west. It is estimated that around 80,000 people use the Luas daily.
In 2006 the Railway Procurement Agency announced that the Luas system reached profitability ahead of schedule, after only a year of operation. The Luas is the only mass transit in the country to operate without Government assistance, and among few in Europe to do so.

The present - Rail

Main article: Transport 21 Communications and media
Dublin is at the centre of Ireland's transport system. Dublin Port is the country's most important sea port. Dublin Airport is the busiest airport by far on the island, registering over 21 million passengers in 2006, making it the 16th busiest airport in Europe with flights to other airports in Ireland, Europe, North America and the Middle East. The route to London from Dublin Airport is the busiest air corridor in the European Union. The major mainline railway stations are Heuston Station that connects with the south and west (Ballina, Westport, Galway, Ennis, Limerick, Tralee, Cork and Waterford lines) and Connolly Station serving Sligo, Wexford and Belfast. These two stations are connected by the Luas red line. Dublin also has the busiest Bus Depot in the country which is called Busáras. From here, there are frequent departures to all areas of the Island.

National Transport
Dublin is the main hub of the country's road network. The M50 motorway (the busiest road in Ireland), a semi-ring road runs around the south, west and north of the city, connecting the most important national primary routes that fan out from the capital to the regions. A toll of €1.90 applies on the West-Link, two adjacent concrete bridges that tower high above the River Liffey near the village of Lucan. Construction of the M50 took almost 20 years, with the final section opening in June 2005. A court case regarding the destruction of medieval ruins at Carrickmines Castle delayed the final completion of the route. The M50 currently has two traffic lanes in each direction but work is underway between the N4 and N7 junctions to increase it to three. The National Roads Authority also intends to increase capacity at many of the motorway's busiest junctions by building triple-grade interchanges, on which work has begun.
To complete the ring road, an eastern bypass is proposed. The first half of this project, the Dublin Port Tunnel, has recently been completed. It opened on 20 December 2006 and caters mainly for heavy vehicles, with tolls being levied on lighter vehicles. From February 2007, 5 axle vehicles are prohibited from travelling within the city centre cordon between 07:00 and 19:00 Monday to Sunday (unless the vehicle has obtained a valid permit for necessary deliveries from the Dublin City Council HGV website).
Though originally intended to be a two-lane single bore catering specifically for HGV traffic, the Port Tunnel has been built to motorway standard as two separate tunnels for all traffic, although HGV traffic will not be tolled. The tunnels are deeper than originally planned to reduce disturbance to residential areas, and were built one kilometre longer and with more ancillary works to facilitate this.
The capital is surrounded by what have been termed by Dublin City Council an inner and outer orbital route. The inner orbital route runs roughly around the heart of the Georgian city from St. Stephen's Green to Mountjoy Square and from the King's Inns to St Patrick's Cathedral. The outer orbital route runs largely along the natural circle formed by Dublin's two canals, the Grand Canal and the Royal Canal, and the North and South Circular Roads.

Road network

Government
The City is governed by Dublin City Council (formerly called Dublin Corporation), which is presided over by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, who is elected for a yearly term and resides in the Mansion House. Dublin City Council is based in two major buildings. Council meetings take place in the headquarters at Dublin City Hall, the former Royal Exchange taken over for city government use in the 1850s. Many of its administrative staff are based in the controversial Civic Offices on Wood Quay.
The City Council is a unicameral assembly of 52 members, elected every five years from Local Election Areas. The party with the majority of seats decides who sits on what committee, what policies are followed, and who becomes Lord Mayor. Chaired by the Lord Mayor, the Council passes an annual budget for spending on housing, traffic management, refuse, drainage, planning, etc. The Dublin City Manager is responsible for the implementation of decisions of the City Council.

City
The national parliament of the Republic of Ireland, the Oireachtas, consists of the President of Ireland and two houses, Dáil Éireann (Chamber of Deputies) and Seanad Éireann (Senate). All three are based in Dublin. The President of Ireland lives in Áras an Uachtaráin, the former residence of the Governor-General of the Irish Free State in the city's largest park, Phoenix Park. Both houses of the Oireachtas meet in Leinster House, a former ducal palace on the south side. The building has been the home of Irish parliaments since the creation of the Irish Free State on December 6, 1922.
The Irish Government is based in the Government Buildings, a large building designed by Sir Aston Webb, the architect who created the Edwardian facade of Buckingham Palace, as the Royal College of Science. In 1921 the House of Commons of Southern Ireland met here. Given its location next to Leinster House, the Irish Free State government took over part of the building to serve as a temporary home for some ministries. Both it and Leinster House, meant to be a temporary home of parliament, became permanent homes.
The old Irish Houses of Parliament of the Kingdom of Ireland are in College Green.

National
Dublin enjoys a maritime temperate climate characterised by mild winters, cool summers, and a lack of temperature extremes. Contrary to popular belief, Dublin does not experience as high rainfall as the West of Ireland, which receives twice that of the capital city. Dublin has fewer rainy days, on average, than London. The average maximum January temperature is 8 °C (46 °F), the average maximum July temperature is 20 °C (68 °F). The sunniest months, on average, are May and June, with six hours of sunshine daily (though daylight in these months is a lot more). The wettest months, on average, are December and August, with 74 mm (2.9 inches) of rain. The driest month is April, with 45 mm (1.7 inches). The total average annual rainfall (and other forms of precipitation) is 762 mm (29.5 inches), lower than Sydney, New York City and even Dallas. Due to Dublin's high latitude, it experiences long summer days (around 19 hours of daylight) and short winter days (as short as nine hours). Like the rest of Ireland it is relatively safe from common natural disasters such as tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis.
Strong winds from Atlantic storm systems can affect Dublin, though usually less severe than other parts of Ireland. Severe winds are most likely during mid-winter, but can occur anytime, especially between October and February. During one of the stormiest periods of recent times, a gust of 151 km/h (94 mph) was recorded at Casement Aerodrome on 24 December 1997.
An urban heat island effect means Dublin is a few degrees warmer than surrounding areas. There is also a slight temperature difference between the city centre and the city's suburbs, with the city centre slightly warmer, as it is more built up. There are slight differences between the city centre just 12 kilometres north.
The city is not noted for its temperature extremes due to its mild climate. The lowest recorded temperature was −15.6 °C and the highest 36 °C in July 2006. Typically, the coldest months are December, January and February. Temperatures in summer in recent years have been rising to substantially above average figures, e.g. 31 °C (88 °F) in July 2006, over 11 °C higher than the average maximum. Recent heat waves include the European heat wave of 2003 and European heat wave of 2006.
The main precipitation in winter is rain. The city can experience some snow showers during the months from November to April, but lying snow is rare (on average, only 4/5 days). Hail occurs more often than snow, and is most likely during the winter and spring months. Another rare type of weather is thunder and lightning, most common in summer.

Climate
Despite a number of high profile drug-related and gangland murders in recent years, Dublin is much safer than most other European capitals show that the overall headline crime rate for the metropolitan area per 1,000 of population is the highest in the country. During the 1980s and 1990s, a heroin epidemic swept through working class areas of the inner city and outlying suburbs. Dublin had 80 homicides from 2004 to the end of 2006. 32 were gang-related. In 2007, as of mid July, there have been 15 homicides, in which 4 were gangland shootings. Homicides in Dublin from 1/1/04 to 20/6/07 took place in many crime hotspots.

Crime

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See also: :Category:Visitor attractions in Dublin

Tourist attractions

See also

Pat Liddy, Dublin A Celebration — From the 1st to the 21st century (Dublin City Council, 2000) (ISBN 0-946841-50-0)
Maurice Craig, The Architecture of Ireland from the Earliest Times to 1880 (Batsford, Paperback edition 1989) (ISBN 0-7134-2587-3)
Frank McDonald, Saving the City: How to Halt the Destruction of Dublin (Tomar Publishing, 1989) (ISBN 1-871793-03-3)
Edward McParland, Public Architecture in Ireland 1680–1760 (Yale University Press, 2001) (ISBN 0300090641
Hanne Hem, Dubliners, An Anthropologist's Account, Oslo, 1994
John Flynn and Jerry Kelleher, Dublin Journeys in America (High Table Publishing, 2003) (ISBN 0-9544694-1-0)

Jean-Baptiste Dubos (December, 1670 – March 23, 1742) was a French author,
born in Beauvais. After studying theology, he gave it up in favour of public law and politics. He was employed by M. de Torcy, minister of foreign affairs, and by the regent and Cardinal Dubois in several secret missions, in which he acquitted himself with great success. He was rewarded with a pension and other advantages. Having obtained these, he retired from political life and devoted himself to history and literature. He gained such distinction as an author that in 1720 he was elected a member of the Académie française, of which, in 1723, he was appointed perpetual secretary in succession to Dacier. He died in Paris, repeating the well-known remark, "Death is a law, not a punishment."
His first work was L'Histoire des quatre Gordiens prouvée et illustrée par des médailles (Paris, 1695), which, in spite of its ingenuity, did not succeed in convincing most people. At the beginning of the war of 1701 he was charged with different negotiations (both in the Netherlands and England). In an attempt to persuade those countries to adopt a policy of peace, he published a work entitled Les Intéréts de l'Angleterre mal entendus dans la guerre présente (Amsterdam, 1703). This work contained indiscreet disclosures and predictions which were not fulfilled. The enemy took advantage of the work,and a wag took occasion to remark that the title ought to be read thus: Les Intérêts de l'Angleterre mal entendus par l'abbé Dubos. It is remarkable as containing a distinct prophecy of the revolt of the American colonies from Great Britain.
His next work was L'Histoire de la Ligue de Cambray (Paris, 1709, 1728 and 1785, 2 vols.), a full, clear and interesting history, which obtained the commendation of Voltaire. In 1734 he published his Histoire critique de l'établissement de la monarchie française dans les Gaules (3 vols. 4to)--a work the object of which was to prove that the Franks had entered Gaul, not as conquerors, but at the request of the nation, which, according to him, had called them in to govern it. But this system, though unfolded with a degree of skill and ability which at first procured it many zealous partisans, was victoriously refuted by Montesquieu at the end of the thirtieth book of the Esprit des lois.
His Réflexions critiques sur la poésie et sur la peinture, published for the first time in 1719 (2 vols, but often reprinted in three volumes), constitute one of the works in which the theory of the arts is explained with the utmost sagacity and discrimination. Like his history of the League of Cambray, it was highly praised by Voltaire. The work was rendered more remarkable by the fact that its author had no practical acquaintance with any one of the arts whose principles he discussed. Besides the works above enumerated, a manifesto of Maximilian II Emanuel, elector of Bavaria, against the emperor Leopold (relative to the succession in Spain) has been attributed to Dubos from the excellence of the style.

A chapel is a holy place or area of worship, sometimes small and attached to a larger institution such as a large church, a synagogue, a college, a hospital, a palace, a prison or a cemetery, sometimes large and unattached to another building.
Architecturally, a chapel may be a part of a large church set aside for some specific use or purpose: for instance, Gothic cathedrals typically have a "Lady Chapel" in the apse, dedicated to Mary; parish churches may have a "Blessed Sacrament Chapel" attached to the main church where the Eucharist is kept between services.
In the Catholic Canon Law a chapel, technically called an "oratory," is a space dedicated to the celebration of services, particularly Mass, which is not a parish church. This may be a private chapel, for the use of one person or a select group (a bishop's private chapel, or the chapel of a convent, for instance); a semi-public oratory, which is partially available to the general public (a seminary chapel that welcomes visitors to services, for instance); or a public oratory (for instance, a hospital or university chapel).
The word chapel is in particularly common usage in England, and even more so in Wales, for many non-Anglican Protestant church buildings; and in Scotland and Ireland many ordinary Catholic churches are known to locals as "the chapel".
Chapels are generally non-denominational when part of a non-religious institution.

Notable chapels

In Britanny (France) each village even very small, has is own chapel. Nowadays, they are only in service once a year for the local "pardon" which celebrates the saint to whom the chapel is dedicated. To permit some pretty of them to be better known, in the area of Pontivy, each summer, modern art is presented in a twenty of chapels. See details on : [1]
Church
Sacri Monti

For most everyday use of the term is in cartography. A contour map (topographic map) uses contour lines (often just called a "contour") to join points of equal elevation (height) and thus show valleys and hills, and the steepness of slopes.
More generally, a contour line (also level set, isopleth, isoline, isogram or isarithm) for a function of two variables is a curve connecting points where the function has a same particular value. The prefix iso-, from the Greek prefix ισος ("equal"), is used from descriptive names for map lines that join points of equal value. The gradient of the function is always perpendicular to the contour lines. When the lines are close together the length of the gradient is large: the variation is steep. If adjacent contour lines are of the same line width, the direction of the gradient cannot be determined from the contour lines alone. However if contour lines rotate through three or more widths, or if the lines are numerically labelled, then the direction of the gradient can also be determined from the contour lines.
That is, contour lines are curved or straight lines on a map describing the intersection of a real or hypothetical surface with one or more horizontal planes. The configuration of these contours allows map readers to infer relative gradient of a parameter and estimate that parameter at specific places. Contour lines may be either traced on a visible three-dimensional model of the surface, as when a photogrammetrist viewing a stereo-model plots elevation contours, or interpolated from estimated surface elevations, as when a computer program threads contours through a network of observation points ot area centroids. In the latter case, the method of interpolation affects the reliability of individual isolines and their portrayal of slope, pits and peaks (see Davis, 1986, Statistics and data analysis in geology).

Types of contour lines
Meteorological contour lines are based on generalization from point data received from weather stations. Weather stations are seldom exactly positioned at a contour line (when they are, this indicates a measurement precisely equal to the value of the contour). Instead, lines are drawn to best approximate the locations of exact values, based on the scattered information points available.
Meteorological countour maps may present collected data such as actual air pressure at a given time, or generalized data such as average pressure over a period of time, or forecast data such as predicted air pressure at some point in the future
Thermodynamic diagrams use multiple overlapping contour sets (including isobars and isotherms) to present a picture the major thermodynamic factors in a weather system.

Barometric pressure
An isotherm (from θερμη or thermē, meaning 'heat') is a line that connects points on a map that have the same temperature. Therefore, all points through which an isotherm passes have the same temperatures at the time indicated. Generally, isotherms representing 5 temperature differences are used, but any interval may be chosen.
An isogeotherm is a line of equal mean annual temperature. An isocheim is a line of equal mean winter temperature, and an isothere is a line of equal mean summer temperature.
An isohel (from έλιος or helios, meaning 'sun') is a line of equal or constant solar radiation.

Temperature and related subjects
An isohyet or isohyetal line (from ύετος or huetos, meaning 'rain') is a line joining points of equal precipitation on a map. A map with isohyets is called an isohyetal map.
An isohume is a line of constant relative humidity, while a isodrosotherm (from δροσος or drosos, meaning 'dew', and θερμη or therme, meaning 'heat') is a line of equal or constant dew point.
An isoneph is a line indicating equal cloud cover.
An isochalaz is a line of constant frequency of hail storms.
Snow cover is frequently shown as a contour-line map.

Precipitation and air moisture
An isotach (from ταχ or tach, meaning 'speed') is a line of constant wind speed. In general, an isogon is a line along which an angle is held constant. In meteorology, the term refers to a line of constant wind direction.

Wind

isopectic: ice formation location each winter
isotac: time of thawing Other terms

Physical geography and oceanography
Contours are one of several common methods used to denote elevation or altitude and depth. From these contours, a sense of the general terrain can be determined. They are used at a variety of scales, from large-scale engineering drawings and architectural plans, through topographic maps up to continental-scale maps.
"Contour line" is the most common usage in cartography, but isobath for underwater depths on bathymetric maps and isohypse for elevations are also used. The process of drawing isohypse contour lines on a map is called isopletion.

Elevation and depth
In general, an isogon is a line along which an angle is held constant. In geomagnetism, the term refers to a line of constant magnetic declination (variance of magnetic north from geographic north). Isogonic lines are lines connecting those parts where the declination of the Earth's magnetic field is the same in amount. They are similar to isoclinic lines, which are lines connecting points of equal magnetic inclination. The line drawn through the points of zero magnetic declination is called the agonic line.

Magnetism
Besides ocean depth, oceanographers use contour to describe diffuse variable phenomena much as meteorologists do with atmospheric phenomena. In particular, isobathytherms are lines showing depths of water with equal temperature, and isohalines show lines of equal ocean salinity.

Oceanography
In discussing pollution, density maps can be very useful in indicating sources and areas of greatest contamination. Contour maps are especially useful for diffuse forms or scales of pollution. Acid precipitation is indicated on maps with isoplats. Some of the most widespread applications of environmental science contour maps involve mapping of environmental noise, air pollution, soil contamination, thermal pollution and groundwater contamination.

Environmental science
In economics, contour lines can be used to describe features which vary quantitatively over space. An isochrone shows lines of equivalent drive time or travel time to a given location. An isotim shows equivalent transport costs from the source of a raw material, and an isodopane shows equivalent cost of travel time.
Isolines can also be used to delineate qualitative differences. An isogloss, for example, is used in mapping the geographic spread of linguistic features.
Contour lines are also used in non-geographic charts in economics. An isoquant is a line of equal production quantity, and an isocost shows equal production costs.

Social sciences
Various types of graphs in thermodynamics, engineering, and other sciences use isobars (for showing constant pressure), isotherms (for constant temperature), isochors (for constant specific volume), or other types of iso-lines (or curves), even though these graphs are usually not related to maps. Such iso-lines are useful for representing more than two dimensions (or quantities) on two-dimensional graphs. Common examples in thermodynamics are some types of phase diagrams.

Thermodymics, engineering, and other sciences

isochasm: aurora equal occurrence
isochor: volume
isodose: radiation intensity
isophene: biological events occurring with coincidence such as plants flowering
isophote: illuminance Other phenomena
The idea of lines that join points of equal value was rediscovered several times. In 1701, Edmond Halley used such lines (isogons) on a chart of magnetic variation. The Dutch engineer Nicholas Cruquius drew the bed of the river Merwede with lines of equal depth (isobaths) at intervals of 1 fathom in 1727, and Philippe Buache used them at 10-fathom intervals on a chart of the English Channel that was prepared in 1737 and published in 1752. The use of such lines to describe a land surface (contour lines) was studied theoretically by Ducarla in 1771, and Charles Hutton used them when calculating the volume of a hill in 1777. In 1791, a map of France by J. L. Dupain-Triel used contour lines at 20-metre intervals, hachures, spot-heights and a vertical section. In 1801, the chief of the Corps of Engineers, Haxo, used contour lines at the larger scale of 1:500 on a plan of his projects for Rocca d'Aufo.
When maps with contour lines became common, the idea spread to other applications. Perhaps the latest to develop are air quality and noise pollution contour maps, which first appeared in the USA, in approximately 1970, largely as a result of national legislation requiring spatial delineation of these parameters.

Technical construction factors
Most commonly contour lines are drawn in plan view. or as an observer in space would view the earth's surface: ordinary map form. However, some parameters can often be displayed in profile view showing a vertical profile of the parameter mapped. Some of the most common parameters mapped in profile are air pollutant concentrations and sound levels. In each of those cases it may be important to analyze (air pollutant concentrations or sound levels) at varying heights so as to determine the air quality or noise health effects on people at different elevations, for example, living on different floor levels of an urban apartment. One can see an example of vertical contours in the article on noise barriers. In actuality, both plan and profile view contour maps are used in air pollution and noise pollution studies.

Over seventy countries around the world have implemented some form of freedom of information legislation. These laws—also described as open records or (especially in the United States) sunshine laws—set rules on access to information or records held by government bodies.
Sweden's Freedom of the Press Act of 1766 is thought to be the oldest such law.
Many more countries are working towards introducing such laws, and many regions of countries with national legislation have local laws. For example, all states of the US have laws governing access to public documents of state and local taxing entities, in addition to that country's Freedom of Information Act which governs documents in the possession of the federal government.
In general, such laws define a legal process by which government information is available to the public; In many countries there are vague constitutional guarantees for the right of access to information, but usually these are unused where specific legislation to support them does not exist.
A related concept is open meetings legislation, which allows access to government meetings, not just to the records of them. In many countries, privacy or data protection laws may be part of the freedom of information legislation; the concepts are often closely tied together in political discourse.
A basic principle behind most freedom of information legislation is that the burden of proof falls on the body asked for information, not the person asking for it. The requester does not usually have to give an explanation for their request, but if the information is not disclosed a valid reason has to be given.

Some countries with existing legislation
In Albania, the constitution of 1998 guarantees the right of access to information; the legislation supporting this is the Ligj nr. 8503, date 30.6.1999, Per të drejten e informimit per dokument zyrtare (Law no. 8503, dated June 30 1999, On the right to information over the official documents). This requires public authorities to grant any request for an official document.

Albania
The Law on Freedom of Information was unanimously approved by the Parliament on 23 September 2003 and went into force in November 2003.

Armenia
In Australia, the Freedom of Information Act 1982 was passed at the federal level in 1982, applying to all "ministers, departments and public authorities" of the Commonwealth.
There is similar legislation in all states and territories:

Australian Capital Territory, the Freedom of Information Act 1989
New South Wales, the Freedom of Information Act 1989
Northern Territory, the Information Act 2003 Australia
Article 32 of the Constitution was amended in 1993 to include a right of access to documents held by the government.
The constitutional right is implemented on the federal level by the 1994 Law on the right of access to administrative documents held by federal public authorities.

Belgium
In Belize, the Freedom of Information Act was passed in 2000 and is currently in force, though a governmental commission noted that "not much use has been made of the Act".

Belize
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, both federal entities - the Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina - passed freedom of information laws in 2001, the Freedom of Access to Information Act for the Republika Srpska and Freedom of Access to Information Act for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina respectively. As such, though there is no single national-level law, the whole of the country is covered.

Bosnia and Herzegovina
In Bulgaria, the Access to Public Information Act was passed in 2000, following a 1996 recommendation from the Constitutional Court to implement such a law.

Bulgaria
In Canada, the Access to Information Act allows citizens to demand records from federal bodies. This is enforced by the Information Commissioner of Canada. There is also a complementary Privacy Act, introduced in 1983. The purpose of the Privacy Act is to extend the present laws of Canada that protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves held by a federal government institution and that provide individuals with a right of access to that information. It is a Crown copyright. Complaints for possible violations of the Act may be reported to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
The various provinces and territories of Canada also have legislation governing access to government information; in many cases, this is also the provincial privacy legislation. For example, the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act applies to the province of Ontario's provincial ministries and agencies, boards and most commissions, as well as community colleges and district health councils. In Quebec the Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies and the protection of personal information governs access to government information.

Canada
In Chile, there is a constitutional provision for the freedom of information, but an Access to Public Information law (Ley de Transparencia y Acceso a la Información) is yet to be ratified by Parliament. The right provided by the Constitution is regulated in the articles 11 (bis and ter) of Law N° 19,653, which modified Law N° 18,575. In it, it is stated that administrative activities in the agencies of the public administration and documents of organizations that work with them are public. The public can request information with the following requirements: it has to be in a written matter and it does not have to be information already available to the public. Information has to be delivered in 48 hours. It is foreseen that the legislation to be introduced in the future will be largely modelled on the UK's Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Chile
In Colombia, the constitution gives a right of access to public information, and the Ley 57 de 1985 Por la cual se ordena la publicidad de los actos y documentos oficiales (Law 57 of 1985, for the ordering of the official publicity of the acts and documents) implements this, giving the right of access to documents que reposen en las oficinas públicas - which reside in the public offices. - Also there is a Law called "estatuto anticorrupción Ley 190 de 1995" or anticorruption act. The 51st Article oblies public offices to list in visible area all the contracts and purchases every month. It is slowly becoming to effect.

Colombia
In Croatia, the Zakon O Pravu Na Pristup Informacijama (Act on the Right of Access to Information) of 2003 extends to all public authorities.

Croatia
In the Czech Republic, the Zákon č. 106/1999 Sb., o svobodném přístupu k informacím (Act No. 106/1999 Coll. on Free Access to Information) covers the "state agencies, territorial self-administration authorities and public institutions managing public funds" as well as any body authorised by the law to reach legal decisions relating to the public sector, to the extend of such authorisation.

Czech Republic
In Denmark, the Access to Public Administration Files Act of 1985 applies to most public agencies, and an unusual clause extends coverage to most private or public energy suppliers.

Denmark
Hipólito Mejía approved Ley No.200-04 - Ley General de Libre Acceso a la Información Pública (Law number 200-04 - Law on Access to Information) on 28 July 2004, which allows public access to information from the government and private organizations that receive public money to conduct state business. Rough drafts and projects that are not part of an administrative procedure are not included.

Dominican Republic
In Ecuador, the Transparency and Access to Information Law of 2004 declares that the right of access to information is guaranteed by the state.

Ecuador
In Estonia, the Public Information Act of 2000 extends to all "holders of information", which is clarified as being all government and local government bodies, legal persons in public law and legal persons in private law if they are performing public duties (providing health, education etc).

Estonia

Main article: Freedom of information legislation in the European Union European Union
In Finland, the Laki yleisten asiakirjain julkisuudesta 9.2.1951/83 (Act on the Openness of General Documents of 1951) established the openness of all records and documents in the possession of officials of the state, municipalities, and registered religious communities. Exceptions to the basic principle could only be made by law, or by an executive order for specific enumerated reasons such as national security. The openness of unsigned draft documents was not mandated, but up to the consideration of the public official. This weakness of the law was removed when the law was revised in the 1990s. The revised law, the Laki viranomaisten toiminnan julkisuudesta 21.5.1999/621 (Act on the Openness of Government Activities of 1999), also extended the principle of openness to corporations that perform legally mandated public duties, such as pension funds and public utilities, and to computer documents.

Finland

Main article: Freedom of information in France France
In Georgia, the General Administrative Code contains a Law on Freedom of Information.

Georgia
In Germany, the federal government passed a freedom of information law in 2005. Six of the sixteen Bundesländer - Berlin, Brandenburg, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Schleswig-Holstein, Hamburg and Bremen - have approved individual "Informations-Freiheits-Gesetze" (Freedom of Information laws).

Germany
In Greece, article 16 (Right to Access Administrative Documents — Δικαίωμα γνώσης διοικητικών εγγράφων) of Law 1599/1986 (State-citizenry Relationship — Σχέσεις Κράτους-πολίτη) introduced the right of all citizens to read most administrative documents. This right is now codified as article 5 (Access to documents — Πρόσβαση σε έγγραφα) of the Administrative Procedural Code (Κώδικας Διοικητικής Διαδικασίας), Law 2690/1999. Under this article, citizens have a right to know the content of administrative documents. Administrative documents are defined as those produced by public sector entities, such as reports, studies, minutes, statistical data, circulars, instructions, responses, consultatory responses, and decisions. In addition, citizens with a legitimate interest may also access private documents stored by public services. The right cannot be exercised if the document concerns the private or family lives of others, or if the document's confidentiality is safeguarded by specific legal provisions. Furthermore, the public body can refuse access if the document refers to discussions in the Cabinet, or if accessing the document can seriously hamper criminal or administrative violation investigations carried out by judicial, police, or military authorities.
Citizens may study the documents at the place where they are archived, or they may obtain a copy at their own cost. Access to one's own medical data is provided with the help of a doctor. Access to documents should take into account whether they be covered by copyright, patent, or trade secret regulations.
In addition, Law 3448/2006, on the reuse of public sector information, harmonizes the national laws with the requirements on the European Union Directive 2003/98/EC.

Greece
In March 1995 the Hong Kong Government introduced a Code on Access to Information to serve as a formal framework for the provision of information by government agencies. The Code has extended to the whole of the Government with effect from 23 December 1996. The Code applies to government departments.

Hong Kong
In Hungary, the Act on the Protection of Personal Data and Public Access to Data of Public Interest extends a right of access to all data of public interest, defined as any information processed by a body performing a governmental function. Complaints and contested applications may be appealed to the Data Protection Commissioner.

Hungary
In Iceland the Information Act (Upplysingalög) Act no. 50/1996 gives access to public information.

Iceland
The Indian Right to Information Act (RTI Act) was introduced to the Indian Parliament in July 2000. It came into effect on 12 Oct 2005. Under this law the information has become a fundamental right of the citizen

India
In Ireland the Freedom of Information Act While this information would not often be released, and sometimes only under the thirty year rule, the fact that government ministers now do not annotate and sign documents creates the concerns that while government is open it is not accountable as to who did or saw what or how decision making process works.

Ireland
In Israel, the Freedom of Information Law, 5758-1998, supported by the Freedom of Information regulations, 5759-1999, controls freedom of information. It defines the bodies subject to the legislation by a set of listed categories - essentially, most public bodies - and provides for the government to publish a list of all affected bodies. However, this list does not seem to have been made publicly available, if indeed it was ever compiled.
Many public bodies are not obliged to follow the law, which limits the potential for use by the public. Currently, the freedom of information regime in Israel is unusual in that it is the only country where public universities and colleges are not subject to the legislation on a national basis; the justice minister, however, has looked into extending the law to cover these institutions.

Israel
Chapter V of Law No. 241 of 7 August 1990 provides for access to administrative documents. However, the right to access is limited. The law states that those requesting information must have a legal interest. The 1992 regulations require "a personal concrete interest to safeguard in legally relevant situations." The courts have ruled that this includes the right of environmental groups and local councilors to demand information on behalf of those they represent. It was amended in 2005. The revision appears to adopt the court rulings and relax the interest somewhat to allow access when an individual can show they represent a more general public interest.

Italy
In Jamaica, the relevant legislation is the Access to Information Act, 2002.

Jamaica
In Japan, "Law Concerning Access to Information Held by Administrative Organs"(行政機関の保有する情報の公開に関する法律) was promulgated in 1999. The law was enforced in 2001.
In many local governments, it establishes the regulations about information disclosure(情報公開条例) from the latter half of 1980's.

Japan
The Constitution of Latvia states: "Article 104. Everyone has the right to address submissions to State or local government institutions and to receive a materially responsive reply."
The Law on Freedom of Information was signed into law by the State President in November 1998 and has been amended a number of times recently. Any person can ask for information in "any technically feasible form" without having to show a reason. The request can be oral or written. Bodies must respond in 15 days.

Macedonia
The Constitution was amended in 1977 to include a right of freedom of information. Article 6 says in part, "the right of information shall be guaranteed by the state." The Supreme Court made a number of decisions further enhancing that right.
The Federal Law of Transparency and Access to Public Government Information was unanimously approved by Parliament in April 2002 and signed by President Fox in June 2002. It went into effect in June 2003.

Mexico
A freedom of information law was passed in Montenegro late in 2005, after a process of several years.

Montenegro
Article 110 of the Constitution states: "In the exercise of their duties government bodies shall observe the principle of transparency in accordance with rules to be prescribed by Act of Parliament."
Freedom of information legislation was first adopted in 1978. The Government Information (Public Access) Act (WOB) replaced the original law in 1991. Under the Act, any person can demand information related to an administrative matter if it is contained in documents held by public authorities or companies carrying out work for a public authority. The request can either be written or oral. The authority has two weeks to respond.

Netherlands
In New Zealand, the relevant legislation is the Official Information Act 1982. This implemented a general policy of openness regarding official documents and replaced the Official Secrets Act.

New Zealand
The Freedom of Information Act

Norway
President Pervez Musharraf promulgated the Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002 in October 2002. The law allows any citizen access to public records held by a public body of the federal government including ministries, departments, boards, councils, courts and tribunals. It does not apply to government owned corporations or provincial governments. The bodies must respond within 21 days.

Pakistan
In Paraguay, a law protects habeas data, meaning that any citizen can request a copy of publicly or privately held information relating to him, and request that any inaccurate data found be destroyed . This has been primarily used by former dissidents after the fall of the lengthy dictatorship (1954-1989) of Alfredo Stroessner. In 2005, efforts have been made to add transparency to purchases made by the Government, with a system that publishes bids on the Web, as well as the resulting purchases.

Paraguay
Article 61 of the Constitution provides for the right to information and mandates that Parliament enact a law setting out this right.
The Law on Access to Public Information was approved in September 2001 and went into effect in January 2002.(The Act allows anyone to demand access to public information, public data and public assets held by public bodies, private bodies that exercise public tasks, trade unions and political parties. The requests can be oral or written. The bodies must respond within 14 days.

Poland
Article 34 of the Constitution provides for a right of access to information.
The Law of the Republic of Moldova on Access to Information was approved by Parliament in May 2000 and went into force in August 2000. Under the law, citizens and residents of Moldova can demand information from state institutions, organizations financed by the public budget and individuals and legal entities that provide public services and hold official information.

Republic of Moldova
Since 2001 there is one law on Freedom of Information and one on transparent decision making processes in public administration (a sunshine law).

Romania
In Serbia, the Access to Public Information Act gives access to documents of public authorities.

Serbia
Slovenia passed the Access to Public Information Act in March 2003.

Slovenia
South Africa passed the Promotion of Access to Information Act on 2 February 2000. It is intended "To give effect to the constitutional right of access to any information held by the State and any information that is held by another person and that is required for the exercise or protection of any rights"; the right of access to privately held information is an interesting feature, as most freedom of information laws only cover governmental bodies.

South Africa
The Constitutional Court ruled in 1989 that there is a constitutional right to information "as an aspect of the right of freedom of expression and specific implementing legislation to define the contours of the right was not a prerequisite to its enforcement."
The Act on Disclosure of Information by Public Agencies was enacted in 1996 and went into effect in January 1998. It allows citizens to demand information held by public agencies.

South Korea
In Sweden, the Freedom of the Press Act of 1766 granted public access to government documents. It thus became an integral part of the Swedish Constitution, and the first ever piece of freedom of information legislation in the modern sense. In Swedish this is known as Offentlighetsprincipen (The Principle of Public Access), and has been valid since.
The Principle of Public Access means that the general public are to be guaranteed an unimpeded view of activities pursued by the government and local authorities; all documents handled by the authorities are public unless legislation explicitly and specifically states otherwise, and even then each request for potentially sensitive information must be handled individually, and a refusal is subject to appeal. Further, the constitution grants the Right to Inform, meaning that even some (most) types of secret information may be passed on to the press or other media without risk of criminal charges. Instead, investigation of the informer's identity is a criminal offense.

Sweden
In Thailand, the relevant legislation is the Official Information Act of 1997.

Thailand
In Trinidad and Tobago, the relevant legislation is the Freedom of Information Act, 1999.

Trinidad and Tobago
"Turkish Law on the Right to Information" (Bilgi Edinme Hakkı Kanunu) was signed on October 24th, 2003 and it came into effect 6 months later on April 24th, 2004.

Turkey
The 1996 Constitution does not include a specific general right of access to information but contains a general right of freedom of collect and disseminate information and rights of access to personal and environmental information.
The 1992 Law on Information is a general information policy framework law that includes a citizen's a right to access information. The law allows citizens and legal entities to request access to official documents. The request can be oral or written. The government body must respond in 10 calendar days and provide the information within a month unless provided by law.

Ukraine

Main article: Freedom of information in the United Kingdom United Kingdom

Main article: Freedom of information in the United States United States
In Zimbabwe, the Access to Information and Privacy Act (AIPPA) was signed by President Mugabe in February 2002.

Countries with pending legislation
France • India • United Kingdom (UK-wide; Scotland) • United States Other states

ARTICLE 19
International Freedom of Expression Exchange
Open government
Secrecy
Transparency (humanities) (Metaphor name, also related to politics)
Wikileaks