During the twentieth century, Ireland was suffering through a time of economic hardship. “Economic growth was stagnant, unemployment was at a historic high and exceeded anywhere in the EU, except possibly Spain, and the state was one of the most indebted in the world” . Irish men and women who had received a formal education had immigrated to other nations due to the unavailability of jobs at home. This left Ireland in a state of further economic downfall, and the lack of skilled workers left Ireland stuck. The 1990’s were a turning point for Ireland. A rise in industry within the nation, as well as an increase in exports, led Ireland to become the “shining nation” in Europe. It became internationally linked with one of the biggest power nations, the United States, and international trade became Ireland’s new source for a booming economy. This brought the rise of what was known as the Celtic Tiger in Ireland. The Celtic Tiger was a label put on the Irish economy during the 1990’s. It was a new image for Ireland, one that mirrored the Asian Tiger in that it was young, vibrant and well educated as well. It also brought Ireland the idea of higher wages and lower taxes . This new identity was one in which set Ireland apart for the first time ever. This paper will look at the 1990’s phenomenon of the Celtic Tiger and how it shaped Ireland and its links with East Asia and the United States. During the twentieth century, the world began to develop the idea of economic trade. Beginning in the 1960’s, the four Asian Tigers, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan, demonstrated that a global economy, which was fueled by an import and export system with other countries, allowed the economy of the home country itself to flourish. Th... ... middle of paper ... ... low paying and men with higher paying jobs. It was further broken when industries came into the nation and were exposed to low taxes. Because of this, homeowners were taxed more in order to make up for this loss of taxation in industry. Also, the import of foreign industry into Ireland took away from indigenous business causing them to make little to no wages forcing them out of business. Lastly, the large industries that were now becoming prosperous in Ireland were not beneficial to Ireland itself. Instead of reinvesting profits from large industries throughout the nation back into Ireland’s economy, these profits were going back into the foreign nations, such as the United States. Therefore, although the Celtic Tiger seemed to thrive throughout the 1990’s, economic downfall was inevitable and Ireland returned to almost the same state as before this decade began.
The Irish Famine 1845-1849 “Is ar scáth a chiéle a maireann na daoine” “It is with each other’s protection that the people live” From the Fifteenth through to the Nineteenth centuries English Monarchies and Governments had consistently enacted laws which it seems were designed to oppress the Irish and suppress and destroy Irish Trade and manufacturing. In the Penal laws of 1695 which aimed to destroy Catholicism, Catholics were forbidden from practicing their religion, receiving education, entering a profession, or purchasing or leasing land; since Catholics formed eighty percent of the Irish population, this effectively deprived the Irish of any part in civil life in their own country. In the eighteenth century the Irish condition had improved: The Irish merchant marine had been revived and ports improved, and the glass, linen, and clothing industries developed. Agriculture had also been improved and in 1782 the Irish Constitution was formed.
Bentley, J., & Ziegler, H. (2008). Trade and encounters a global perspective on the past. (4th ed., Vol. 1, pp. 182-401). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Ireland is a beautiful country in Europe, about the size of Maine. Today, Ireland is mostly populated with middle-class families. Irish is famous for its potatoes, but in 1845 a disease attacked the potato crops. The potatoes were what most of the Irish families lived on. They ate and sold potatoes in order to make a living, so when the potatoes stopped growing, people ran out of money. This is known as "The Great Potato Famine". It was so bad; people were actually starving to death. Two million people died. There was almost no help from the British government. Often people rebelled against the government, angered by its carelessness. Many people didn't want to leave their beloved country, afraid of change. With no food to eat, emigration seemed to be the only solution for most of the population. People often talked about "streets paved with gold" in a country called America. There was said to be many job opportunities in this new country. America seemed like the best choice to settle down and finally start a new life.
During the Victorian era, England experienced tremendous growth in wealth and industry while Ireland struggled to survive. The reasons for Ireland's inability to take advantage of the Industrial Revolution are complex, and have been the subject of debate for more than a century. Many English viewed the Irish as stubborn farmers who refused to embrace the new technology. The Irish, however, believed the English had sabotaged their efforts to industrialize. The truth of why the Irish fared so badly while England became the most powerful nation in the world probably lies somewhere between these two extremes.
Ireland has a very conflicted history. Just when that history may seem to take a turn for the better, it seems that there is always another event to keep the trend of depression ongoing. The separation of the Protestant and Catholic Church would be the center of these events. However, the two different groups could potentially work together for the betterment of the nation. Through an analysis of why Protestants and Catholics split in the first place, disadvantages that Catholics would face in the coming years and also how these disadvantages were lifted, an argument will be developed in that there is perhaps the chance that they may end up working together in the future for the betterment of Ireland. Although these two groups would fight over the countless decades, they need to join into one entity if they wish to see a better future for Ireland.
Fay, M, Morrisey, M, Smyth, M, 1999, Northern Ireland’s troubles: the human costs, Pluto Press, Sterling, VA
The Irish and British governments fought for many years over the ownership of Northern Ireland. Britain had main control over Northern Ireland, and Ireland did not think that was fair. Be...
Not a unified and separate country until 1921, Northern Ireland has had cultural, financial, and economic that makes it stand affront from the rest of the Emerald Isles. With its close proximity to England and the immigration all through the 1600s of English and Scottish, Northern Ireland has become more anglicized th...
...stinguish that a qualitatively new type of worldwide trade was developing. The illustration in United stated since the late of 1980 showed that “has less productive portions moved offshore which lead to a decrease in employment while maintaining higher value-added parts. Consequently, all the productivity has risen, while the tradable sector has increased employment” (Spence and Hlatshwayo,2011).
‘The Celtic Tiger’ was the term used by Irish people to describe the rapid growth Ireland was witnessing. Ireland was referred to as ‘Europe’s shining light’ since the start of the Celtic Tiger. It had only been 10 years prior to this that Ireland had been branded as the’ poorest of the rich’ in Europe (Ireland shines, 1997). Open-minded industrial policy targeted MNC (Multi National Companies) to locate in Ireland around 1987. The government had decided Ireland would become a knowledge based, export driven economy. After the 90’s Ireland witnessed major growth and Irelands harsh economy of 1987 when unemployment was 18%, national debt was 125% of GNP and growth averaged 0.2% of 5years seemed a long time ago (Murphy, 2000).
Firstly, the main reason for the systematic failure, according to the report was the expansion of the property bubble financed by the banks. Between 2002 and 2008 bankers demonstrated high levels of greed combined with disregard for the risks and gross misjudgement which few bankers’ could disagree with. This was evident from the surge in lending between sectors which was very uneven. Residential mortgage lending and lending to the construction and property sector considerably out-paced growth in all the other sectors combined (see Fig1 15). For instance, lending to this sector increased at an annual rate of almost 45%. This effectively created a property bubble and like all bubbles, they burst, and this heavily influenced Irelands’ financial crisis. This tied with the world- wide economic crisis heavily increased the rate of the crisis.
The 1960s can definitely be considered a ‘Golden Age’ in Ireland. The economic, political, social, and cultural reforms introduced were vital in bringing the country out of its depression. The massive decrease in emigration evidenced this change of times. The rate of emigration in the 1960s was only 15,000 per annum, nothing compared to the 500,000 that left the country in the previous decade. Evidently, the Irish began to believe in their country once again.
McCann et al. Belfast: Institute of Irish Studies, 1994, 95-109).
Mac Einri, P. 1997. Some Recent Demographic Developments in Ireland. [Online] Available from: http://migration.ucc.ie/etudesirlandaises.htm [Accessed 7th May 2012]
... to Canada, however 70% of the emigrants did go to the U.S.A to work. The author states his facts on emigrants working in America as Ireland emigrants having no skills other than working in factories and on railroads. Women that could speak English obtained employment in America as servants of the rich. This article is a useful example in understanding the type of skills the Irish possessed after the emigration of the Irish to American and the jobs that the Irish obtained.