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Article: Feature: The Celtic tiger's underbelly.
- Article from:
- United Press International
- Article date:
- January 15, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 United Press International. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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DUBLIN, Ireland, Jan 15, 2004 (United Press International via COMTEX)
When Ireland joined the European Union 30 years ago, it was the poorest country in the then 12-member bloc. Now it is the second richest state in the club, with average incomes topping those in Germany, Sweden and Denmark.
Ten years of double-digit growth in the 1990s has transformed Ireland from a hard-up agrarian country on Europe's fringes into the continent's "Celtic Tiger." It used to be half-joked that Ireland's only export was its people. Now, for the first time in its history, there are more immigrants than emigrants as tens of thousands of Asians and east Europeans flood in ...