Economic history of the Republic of Ireland: Encyclopedia II - Economic history of the Republic of Ireland - 1960s

Economic history of the Republic of Ireland - 1960s

In the 1960s the economy greatly expanded, under the leadership of Seán Lemass, many rehousing schemes were started to clear the Dublin tenements (including Ballymun); the Industrial Development Authority refocused on high technology and foreign direct investment was encouraged. Education was also reformed to a large extent, the state built a RTC system and later two NIHE institutions; both systems greatly expanded education, in particular technical education, university education was also reformed and expanded. Entry into the European Economic Community (forerunner to the European Union) in 1973 also added to Ireland's economic prospects.

The 1968 Buchanan Report was a significant report on the regional dimension to economic planning which had largely been ignored. The report, prepared by Colin Buchanan and Partners, investigated and recommended on the social and economic sustainability of industry in the regions. The reports recommended a limited number of development centres throughout Ireland, which would have a minimum self-sustaining size. This became quite controversial as there were less than a dozen of such places recommended. In the end local politics and patronage won out and the report was largely dropped with industry been ineffectively dispersed as local need arose.

However the boom did not last for long. Industrial relations disputes, inflation and poor management of the economy by the government took their toll in the late 1970s. By the 1980s Ireland was referred to as the 'sick man of Europe' [1] and was far behind its European rivals - frequent changes in government compounded the situation. The government, often led by the now disgraced Charles Haughey, presided over a decade of high emigration, unemployment (about 18% for much of the decade) and economic mismanagement. At one point the International Monetary Fund considered imposing strict economic measures.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "1960s", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki