Economic history of the Republic of Ireland

The economic history of the Republic of Ireland effectively began in 1922, when the then Irish Free State won independence from the United Kingdom.

[2] The state was plagued by poverty and emigration until the 1960s when an upturn led to the reversal of long term population decline.

[12] The Free State had the advantage, not possessed by Northern Ireland, of fiscal independence but the violence and disruption of the years 1919–1923 had caused a great deal of economic damage.

[15] The establishment of the Irish Free State gave rise to the first serious attempt since the 1890s to industrialise the south of Ireland, but always with scant resources.

Frank Barry and Mary E. Daly have argued that : During the late 1930s the Fianna Fáil government began a disastrous dispute with Britain over the payment of land annuities, called The Economic War.

[20][21][22] From 1932 Éamon de Valera abandoned free trade, pursued a protectionist policy and sought self-sufficiency, but the country was not wealthy enough to make this a success.

[23] In the 1960s the economy greatly expanded, under the leadership of Seán Lemass, many rehousing schemes (including Ballymun) were started to clear the Dublin tenements; however the Inter Party Government from 1948 to 1951 built more local authority houses than any other administration before or since, the Industrial Development Authority refocused on high technology and foreign direct investment was encouraged.

The civil servant T. K. Whitaker provided a blueprint that chimed with Ireland's wish to join the EEC, fore-runner of today's EU.

The report, prepared by Colin Buchanan, a British town planner, investigated and recommended on the social and economic sustainability of industry in the regions.

In 1973, together with Denmark and the United Kingdom, Ireland joined the European Economic Community, which started a catching up process with the rest of Europe.

Industrial relations disputes, inflation from the oil crises of 1973 and 1979, new capital taxes and poor management of the economy by the government took their toll in the 1970s.

The Republic joined in launching the euro currency system in January 1999 along with eleven other European Union nations.

The economy felt the impact of the global post-Dot Com economic slowdown in 2001, particularly in the high-tech export sector – the growth rate in that area was cut by nearly half.