The Irish Economy

It struck me recently that the prolonged recessions (lasting up to a decade a length) have been a consistent feature of the Irish economy since independence. Furthermore these recessions have occurred on a fairly regular 30 year cycle. When we obtained our Independence in 1922, the country became ravaged by a very damaging Civil War. Manufacturing industry was practically non-existent with the country almost totally dependent on agricultural production. Though little progress was made during this first decade of freedom, surprisingly, in a qualified fashion, the economy started to revive during the era of the Great Depression. The high tariff barriers now in place enabled the replacement of - formerly - imported commodities by new domestic firms. Also the Government, recognising the lack of private capital took the initiative in setting up several large state-owned enterprises. Then we escaped the worst ravages of the 2nd World War through our neutral stance. However during the ne