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Another significant factor in Ireland's rise was joining the EEC-EU. Ireland benefited with infrastructure gifted from the Regional Fund, and farming subsidies

• barry-cotter 8y ago
  No one doubts that helped but it wasn’t necessary. As soon as economic management went from import substitution to export promotion Ireland started growing a lot faster. You can’t turn around 50 years of idiocy immediately but EU membership isn’t a panacea either, look at Greece. Countries outside trading blocs in vaguely similar situations have made similar gains. Singapore has about the same number of people and a similar lack of natural resources with an educated populace and went from grinding poverty to the first world. New Zealand shows that agricultural nations can do fine trading on world terms too. Once we stopped punching ourselves in the face growth was going to come.