Ireland is an independent country with a well-developed economy and many advantages in social, environmental, and legal areas. Ireland has a parliamentary democratic system of government, with the highest elected offices of President and Prime Minister, who have more executive power than the President, as the latter is more of a symbolic figure. Ever since the UK decided to leave the EU, Ireland has been at the center of Brexit negotiations. According to the latest decision, the ports of Northern Ireland will carry out border functions for the maritime border between the EU and the UK.
It is noteworthy that the construction of the necessary facilities has already begun in Northern Ireland, which will be commissioned by 2023 (Macauley, 2021). This decision saves Ireland from controlling the border between the UK and the EU, which might otherwise be between Ireland and Northern Ireland. Ireland retains its status as an EU member state; the country has a stable political environment and does not have significant problems with corruption; also, Ireland is not involved in military conflicts.
One of Ireland’s most critical sources of economic stability is its EU membership and participation in the single European market and the Eurozone. Ireland also has the advantage of a highly-skilled workforce and tax conditions that are conducive to business. The Great Recession was in many ways related to the Eurozone crisis, which affected the economies of most member countries (“About the EU,” 2021). The onset of the Great Recession in 2008-2009 led to many social problems, such as inequality in income distribution, which persists today (Savage et al., 2019). However, Ireland has been widely recognized as one of the countries with the most successful anti-crisis policies. Attractive corporate tax policies have led to giant tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Amazon, and their European subsidiaries in Ireland.
Social factors include the many benefits of a country’s cultural heritage and the character of its inhabitants. Irish people are considered open, cheerful, kind, and patriotic. The two main spoken languages are Irish and English, and the country is home to about 5 million people. Life expectancy is high; the cost of living is lower than in other European countries, except for Dublin (Hutton, 2020). Ireland faces many social challenges despite falling into the rich-country category; the most critical problems are poverty and depression.
In terms of technological factors, Ireland has many advantages. Dublin is the hub of technology operations, home to the European offices of companies such as Intercom, Intel, Airbnb, Facebook, HP, Dell, Acer, PayPal, Payoneer, and Apple. The country has a large percentage of highly skilled IT workers, and Ireland attracts talent worldwide, but the demand for technology talent still exceeds the supply. Interestingly, the EU, while considered a global science hub, also suffers from a shortage of IT talent, as most of the leading tech giants are headquartered in the US and China, a situation that is slowing the AI revolution.
The Irish legal system is business-friendly and offers favorable tax rates. Also, the legislation well protects the labor rights of employees, including minimum wages, maximum working hours, annual leave, and public holidays. Notably, in 2014, as part of adopting the first budget after financial assistance, Ireland introduced tax cuts and closed the loophole that allowed foreign multinationals to pay very low taxes in other countries (“Ireland profile – timeline,” 2020). In August 2016, the European Commission obliged Ireland to recover from Apple tax arrears of up to 13 billion euros after a legal recognition that Apple had been granted unlawful benefits equal to illegal government aid (“Ireland profile – timeline,” 2020). Notably, Ireland has environmental problems, including air and water pollution, noise, greenhouse gas emissions, and biodiversity loss.
References
About the EU. (2021). Web.
Hutton, B. (2020). Government lambasted for approach to big social problems. Web.
Ireland profile – timeline. (2020). Web.
Macauley, C. (2021). Brexit: Irish Sea border posts ‘delayed by two years.’ BBC News. Web.
Savage, M., Callan, T., Nolan, B., & Colgan, B. (2019). The Great Recession, austerity, and inequality: lessons from Ireland. Review of Income and Wealth, 65(2), 312-336.