Reply #19: uh, no, it was "booming" more. mainly from off-shored industry moving to its low-wage,

[Hannah Bell]

low-tax environs.

not that i expect you to acknowledge it.


What happened to Ireland in 2008?

What a difference a year makes! Between 1994 and 2007, Ireland had the highest annual GDP growth rate among the 17 comparator countries. In 2008, the Irish economy contracted by 2.7 per cent. Ireland is reeling from the global economic crisis and a meltdown in its domestic property market and construction sector. Ireland became the first EU country to fall into a recession in 2008.

Ireland’s fall from grace, however, should not detract from the real gains that it has made in its standard of living. In the 1970s, Ireland’s level of income per capita was the lowest among the peer countries. In the 1990s, however, its economy was ignited by foreign investment in high-tech industries. Ireland thus transformed itself from one of the poorest countries in western Europe to one of the wealthiest.

http://www.conferenceboard.ca/HCP/Details/Economy/gdp-growth.aspx.


please note that the wealth of a country doesn't map with the wealth of its citizens. ireland's poverty rate is still among the highest in the eu.

http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:UkKuV2Xg2l4J:www.galway.ie/en/Services/CommunityEnterpriseEconomicDevelopment/SocialInclusion/PovertyinIreland-Stats/+ireland+poverty+rate+highest&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us