Prosperity/Austerity/Prosperity?

The unprecedented experience of economic growth, full employment, immigration from all over the world and ever-rising living standards both delighted and shocked independent Ireland in the early twenty-first century. Many Irish businesses achieved global success. In 2004, 10 per cent of people living in Ireland were not born here. Immigration slowed a little after the global crash of 2008 when emigration rose again, and unemployment, but it soon recovered. Swingeing austerity measures and cuts in public services after this made a kind of economic recovery possible, and Ireland by the centenary of the 1916 Rising seemed buoyant once more, with inclusive emphasis on the ‘New Irish’ of all ethnicities. Workers in health care and education however felt the impact of cuts, and in the private sector trade union membership fell. Homelessness rose as house prices and rents soared. Investment in public amenities and green energy, however, were positive developments. Northern Ireland also saw enhancement of public space but did not experience the same economic boom. Political developments led to the two political extremes, Sinn Fein and Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionist Party, working together. Tensions remained but peace prevailed. In 2016, Northern Ireland’s preference to remain in the European Union was negated by an overall UK vote to leave.