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Article: Celtic tiger loses its stripes as Irish luck runs out.(Business Report)
- Article from:
- The Star (South Africa)
- Article date:
- March 17, 2009
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Between 1994 and 2007, Ireland's economy enjoyed an average annual growth rate of 7 percent and, towards the end of that period, was boasting the highest per capita income in the EU.
This economic performance was not only astounding compared with most of its EU partners; it was dramatic compared with any time in Ireland's 90 years of independence.
In the early nineties Ireland was almost bankrupt and on the verge of a bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
The statistics that better described those first 90 years of independence from Britain were 20-30-50: a 20 percent unemployment rate; 30 percent living below the poverty line; and a ...