On budget day 1958, Finance Minister James Ryan (great-grandfather of the rugby player) was grappling with the big problems of the Irish economy. Top of the list was Ireland’s lack of export industries. Very few Irish industries were able to compete in export markets. The only Irish exporters were small farms, some brewing, some biscuits. That was about it.  So Ryan and his government implemented a plan: to stimulate investment in industry, he eliminated taxes on profits of exporting companies. At first, the tax applied only to Irish firms. In 1959, it was extended to multinationals — the start of…

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