The Celtic Tiger

Northern Ireland after Good Friday

 * Royal Ulster Constabulary -> Re-made as "Police Service"
 * Unionists hail Good Friday Accords as a victory
 * Sinn Fein asked to de-commision its weapons. Slow to do so.
 * "Real" IRA continues fighting kills 29 at Omagh after Good Friday.


 * Gerry Adams
 * Sinn Fein Leader who rises to power


 * David Trimble
 * Leader of Ulster Unionists
 * Loses power / becomes ineffective
 * He becomes NI Prime Minister
 * Everyone wants to keep him there to preserve the peace ("Save Dave" campaign)


 * Hillsburg Declaration
 * Calls out the IRA for not completely de-commissioning weapons
 * De-commissioning weapons means making them inoperable in front of Protestant/Catholic Clergy


 * In December 1995 -> NI Constitution amended to make Northern Ireland forever "autonomous"
 * Rebukes broader Irish claims for power


 * October 2002 -> "Stormondgate"
 * Sinn Fein raided by police in public, televised way
 * Sinn Fein accused of being involved in spying
 * Suspension of ongoing attempts to "devolve" the tensions of the


 * December 2004 -> 26.4 Million Pounds Theft
 * Stolen by IRA / Largest theft in United Kingdom history


 * Murder Robert McCartney
 * By IRA, for unsure reasons
 * British policy had been looking the otherway, now had to look directly at IRA


 * IRA changed from Freedom Fighters to Thugs


 * In 2005, IRA said armed campaign was suspended
 * Total, unilateral de-commissioning of weapons


 * In May 2007, Power sharing begins between DUP and Sinn Fein


 * Vote on Thursday -> Toss-up between Sinn Fein and DUP for Westminster Election

The Celtic Tiger & its Discontents

 * Economic boom in 1995 - 2007 called "Celtic Tiger" after "Tiger Economic booms" in SE Asia
 * Low taxes / Foreign Investment / Crafty Use of EU Funds
 * 1996 -> First year Irish economy outperforms the UK


 * Industrial Development Authority
 * Patrick White, leadership -> wrote book on Celtic Tiger & how/why it worked


 * The Dublin Spire -> Symbol of Irish success, vision for the future, hope.


 * De-regulation -> Not a lot of financial regulation
 * NY TIMES called it the "wild wild west" of finance


 * Dangerous Housing Bubble


 * Vogue of Irish Culture -> "Riverdance Effect"
 * Shook off reputation for being drab, wet, boring
 * Became a hot spot for international travel and partying


 * Ireland, demographically, had a younger population than most other EU countries
 * That plus wealth made it fun, youthful, exciting -> a European Capital


 * Same Sex relationships made legal in 1993


 * Irish Citizenship changed -> You must be born of Irish Nationals or its more complicated
 * People are now living in Ireland from other countries -> Over 10% of people living in Ireland now from other country

Collapse

 * Celtic Tiger brought down in 2008
 * Fall of Irish banking -> Scandals
 * Collapse of Housing Bubble


 * Third free-est economy in the world in 2008
 * By 2010 -> Economy contracts 14%
 * Fainna Fail holds onto power during this time
 * Former Celtic Tiger Taoisech forced to resign after being embroiled in scandal
 * Brian Cowen now Taiosech


 * Celtic Tiger works as a mirror to the Famine
 * It is a good thing with paradoxical bad consequences
 * It was a reversal of Ireland's fortunes, making them finally serious and powerful
 * It was the opposite of everything that the famine was