Modernising Ireland, c present

Economic change For the last fifty years there has been a consensus that Ireland should have an open economy, attractive to foreign investment. Ireland joined the European Economic Community in 1973: Free trade Development of “Internal Market” Agricultural subsidies Structural funds Industrial Development Authority Ireland: Marketing: “The Young Europeans” Financial incentives for investors

Investment in education: 1968 Free secondary education Expansion of third-level Emphasis on technical education at third-level Contemporary Kosovo echoes 1980s Ireland

Irish wealth compared to the USA Real Gross Domestic Product per Capita Relative to the United States (G-K method, current price) Source: Penn World Tables 6.3

Social and Cultural Change Economic commitments entailed higher education, urbanisation and openness to the outside world, all of which would inevitably drive substantial social change. Until recently, Irish people have been quite divided, and political elites very ambivalent, about social change. 1960s television introduced; State lifted bans on classics of Irish literature! Women increasingly educated and employed. “Respectable” women start going to pubs. Spread of pop and rock music coincides, competes and co-operates with remarkable renaissance of traditional music.

Increasing conflict between Catholic sexual values and liberalism: Contraception not widely available until 1990s Divorce unconstitutional until 1995 Homosexuality illegal until 1991 Abortion still illegal except when pregnancy is “a threat to the life of the mother” Prestige of Catholicism destroyed by a succession of scandals, particularly the Church’s reactions to child sexual abuse.

Politics and the economy Politicians now clearly committed to rising living standards: As in other democracies, there are often contradictions between short and long-term living standards. Late 70s, last single-party majority government (Fianna Fáil under Jack Lynch) raised spending just before a global recession. Late 1980s, political consensus on “fiscal rectitude” and “social partnership”.

Politics and “the North” First meeting between leaders of the Republic and Northern Ireland in “The Troubles” destabilised Irish politics: Irish politicians considered intervention in the North; and it influenced their careers. There was an overwhelming rejection of the IRA’s campaign but some sympathy for their grievances. In the 1990s, the British and Irish governments formed a very strong alliance, which drove forward the “Peace process”.

Ireland in the New Millennium Poverty, religion and violent conflict no longer define Ireland’s image in the way they did in the Twentieth Century.

The Papal visit First non-Italian Pope since the 1520s Only Pope to visit Ireland Almost 1 million attended mass in the Phoenix Park Pope John Paul II ( )

Crowds awaiting the Pope in Limerick

Memorial to Papal visit in Maynooth (Irish Cardinal Daly and American Cardinal Law, both involved in erecting this monument, were heavily criticised for their handling of child abuse scandals.)