Irish Miracle ?

[LeftEyeNine]

Several times we are told both in university and through casual life, how Ireland strived their way up to the most wealthy nations of Europe..

I'd like to know about what Ireland actually did to "grow up" in details.. Anyone please ?

[Reverend Joe]

Uh... Irish... miracle? Isn't that a bit of an oxymoron?

[LeftEyeNine]

By the way - and oddly quite off topic - the word "oxymoron" sounds quite offensive to me at first sight.. It's something like defining someone that needs oxygen to go moronic.. Contradictively, you go moronic when your brain lacks oxyg..AHA ! I got it !

Dictionary definition : a combination of contradictory or incongruous words

I guess I've just been an oxymoron in a Turkic comprehensive way.


Anyway, let's get back on topic..

[ShadesPanther]

To answer your question. Easy, EU money and lots of it

[LeftEyeNine]

?! We heard that they applied a serious investment on their education system.

[master of the puppets]

true about the education, but also thousands of americans go to ireland every year flooding the country with tourist money,i know that much but thats all i can help you with.

[BDC]

I'm tempted to say because all the losers who were keeping the country down were killed/imprisoned trying to blow up bits of Britain. But I'm almost certainly wrong.

I vote EU money.

[Tribesman]

Wreck the economy and allow all infrastructure to decay so that the nation is so poor that it qualifies for lots and lots of EU money to try and fix it .
Now the real miracle will be to see how they manage without the massive EU funding .
Once again emigration is on the increase , companies are leaving as soon as they become eligable to pay tax and jobs are being offered for as little as 2 Euros an hour for a 72 hour week , which is a quarter of the minimum wage and 50% increase on the standard hours .

[GiantMonkeyMan]

when they separated from britain they got 'compensation' money iirc and then they joined the EU and got more money from those deals

[Louis VI the Fat]

EU money and lots of it

I vote EU money.

when they separated from britain they got 'compensation' money iirc and then they joined the EU and got more money

Now why do I have an inkling that there's a wee bit of jealousy involved here? Are you guys uncomfortable with the Irish managing to upset the natural order of the universe according to Great Britain?

EU subsidies by itself don't do the trick. *Cough. Greece, Southern Italy. Cough* What did it, was the Irish realizing what a fantastic asset being a low-wage, English-speaking country with full access to the Common European market was. Ask Micro$oft about it.
It were the Irish themselves who had the good sense to seize the opportunity their position offered them.

Celtic Tiger.

[Tribesman]

[B]Celtic Tiger./B]
Ah the old moth eaten pussycat , now what was the long term result of these spectacular "tiger economies" ?
Now why do I have an inkling that there's a wee bit of jealousy involved here?
How do you explain my post then ?

Another factor in the so caled miracle was the return of hundreds of thousands of emigrants during the 90s who had gone elsewhere to make their money and bought the foriegn earnings with them when they returned .

[LeftEyeNine]

Louis,

Tribesman, as an Irish, you don't call it miraculous then ?

[lugh]

1) The returning diaspora wasn't that big a factor, in the last decade it's been far outweighed by eastern european and se asian immigration.

2) EU money helped develop a third world infrastructure into . . . a third world infrastrucure. It's one of the peeves I have about EU money, if their going to give it out, keep control of it and ensure it's spent wisely. We blew buckets on idiotic schemes and over paid contractors etc etc. Not money well spent.

3) The real key was the economic climate. We have one of the lowest corporation taxes in the english speaking world. Major companies like Microsoft, Coca Cola etc have used Ireland as a Euro-Afric-Mid East HQ for years, allowing them to play with their books and declare as much as much of their profits in Ireland as possible. The pay lower taxes, Ireland gets billions in tax revenue that we wouldn't otherwise see.

4) Investment in education has all been in the lower levels. Clerical and production line stuff benifitted but our R&D sector suffers because thrid level institutions are not funded enough.

[Louis VI the Fat]

How do you explain my post then ?

By you being a cynical old fart your all too pessimistic perspective on things?

All the tigers, be they Asian or Celtic, suffer setbacks once they've caught up. Catching up from behind is in fact surprisingly easy in economic terms. Low wages, long hours, poor social and environmental standards and lots of unbridled foreign investment do the trick every time.

Once you've caught up though, you will have to reform your economy again into a fully functioning first world economy. Ireland still has work to do. It's your turn now to watch in despair as those low-wage jobs are being outsourced and that foreign capital flees your country on it's way to China. Welcome to the big boys club, hey?

But as for long term results, surely the modern Irish Republic is a far cry from the island of misery it was but a generation ago?

[Tribesman]

1) The returning diaspora wasn't that big a factor, in the last decade it's been far outweighed by eastern european and se asian immigration.

Yes the eastern Europeans SE Asians , why not add the Africans and South Americans as well for good measure , bring so much money and assets with them when they come over to add to the economy , and they certainly don't send money back home every week .
Investment in education has all been in the lower levels. Clerical and production line stuff benifitted but our R&D sector suffers because thrid level institutions are not funded enough.
And the drop out rate at third level is atrocious

Louis don't call me old you young whippersnapper you will hurt my feelings
Cynical fart would have been quite sufficient