Ireland's Economy
The Celtic Tiger
How Ireland grew rapidly from the mid-1990s to 2007 through foreign investment, EU funds, education and social partnership, earning the name "Celtic Tiger".
From around 1995 to 2007, Ireland grew very fast, earning the nickname “Celtic Tiger”.
Growth
GDP grew around 6 to 10 percent a year in the late 1990s.
Drivers
- Foreign investment from US tech and pharma firms.
- Low corporate tax.
- EU structural funds for infrastructure.
- Educated, English-speaking workforce.
- Social partnership: agreements between government, unions and employers on wages and taxes from 1987.
- Young population.
Results
- Unemployment fell from around 15 percent to under 5 percent.
- Emigration reversed; people returned and immigrants arrived.
The later bubble
From the early 2000s, growth increasingly relied on a property and construction bubble, which burst in 2008.
Lesson
Early growth from exports and investment was solid; later growth from property was fragile.
The returning engineer
An Irish engineer who emigrated in the 1980s returns in 1999 to work for a US tech firm in Cork.
Thinking all Celtic Tiger growth was sound
Later growth relied on a property bubble.
Key takeaways
- Ireland grew rapidly from about 1995 to 2007.
- FDI, low taxes, EU funds and education drove growth.
- Unemployment fell and emigration reversed.
- Later growth relied on a property bubble.
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