Abstract
The high-growth phase of Ireland’s development known as the Celtic Tiger is usually dated to the fiscal austerity programme implemented by the minority Fianna Fáil government which took office in March 1987 (for an insider account, see Mac Sharry and White, 2000). However, the nature and extent of economic transformation which followed cannot be fully appreciated unless seen against the backdrop of various phases of Ireland’s development since its independence in 1922. This is the purpose of the present chapter. Chapter 2 will describe the nature of the Celtic Tiger since its emergence in 1987 while Chapter 3 will examine its ambiguous social impacts.
Irish economic performance has been the least impressive in western Europe, perhaps in all Europe, in the twentieth century.
Professor Joe Lee (1989: 521)
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© 2010 Peadar Kirby
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Kirby, P. (2010). Before the Tiger. In: Celtic Tiger in Collapse. International Political Economy Series. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230278035_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230278035_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-0-230-23744-5
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-27803-5
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