Industry and Policy in Independent Ireland, 1922–1972, by Frank Barry

Industry and Policy in Independent Ireland, 1922–1972, reviewed by Jim Tomlinson
Published in The English Historical Review, January 2025.
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Abstract

In the last thirty years, Ireland has been the most successful country in Europe in using Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to bring employment and prosperity to its economy. Using low rates of corporation tax and the up-skilling of its labour force, as well as drawing on strong cultural connections with the United States, it has been able to attract a range of largely American multinationals to build industrial sectors focused on exporting into the European Single Market. Today around half of all manufacturing employment in the country is in the hands of such companies. But this successful policy mix was a long time in the making, and in this book, Frank Barry traces its roots back to the foundation of an independent Ireland and through to the crucial decision to enter the European Common Market, along with Britain and Denmark, in 1972.