Ireland skipped a stage of economic development. The normal way of things is to start with agriculture (or maybe hunter-gatherer?). The next step is industry. And the final step is for the economy to be dominated by services. Ireland went straight from an agricultural economy to a service economy, without pausing for long at industry.  That is to say, Ireland didn’t pause for long at old-fashioned heavy industry. The type that uses a lot of energy or employs lots of workers on production lines. Ireland has a big industrial sector but it’s more modern high-tech stuff.  Heavy industry, by contrast,…

Want to continue reading?

Introductory offer: Sign up today and pay €200 for an annual membership, a saving of €100.

Subscribe

Cancel anytime.

Are you already a member? .