Blog by Ambassador Mulhall on the realities of a changing Ireland
At the end of the street where I live in Washington, there is a monument to the early 19th century Irish patriot, Robert Emmett, which was first erected at the Smithsonian a century ago and later transferred to its present location on Massachusetts Avenue. In one of the most famous pieces of Irish political oratory delivered prior to his execution, Emmett asks that his epitaph not be written until Ireland has taken its place among the nations of the earth. This monument is a testament to the lasting commitment of Irish Americans to Ireland’s cause.
As I travel around the United States, I am often asked to explain the evolution of contemporary Ireland. Many Americans express surprise that today’s Ireland seems to have diverged from the traditional images they cherish. They often cite the referendum results from 2015 on marriage equality and 2018 on abortion as evidence of what they see as an unusual degree of social change. They are curious to know if the country of 'The Quiet Man' has become a thing of the past.
The countryside depicted in that old Hollywood classic still exists of course and growing numbers of American visitors continue to be charmed by Ireland's Ancient East, by the Wild Atlantic Way, and by the warmly hospitable instincts of Irish people. But the country has certainly changed considerably in recent decades and our connection with the United States is part of the backdrop to that change.
The century after Robert Emmett’s death in 1803 was a miserable one for Ireland, marked by deprivation, strife, famine and emigration. Among other things, this resulted in the creation of a large Irish immigrant community in the United States. They and their descendants loyally supported Irish political movements and contributed strongly to the advent of Irish independence in 1922. There are those who believe that Ireland would not have achieved its freedom when it did without the spur provided by Irish Americans. Today, one in ten Americans have an Irish heritage.
The decades after 1922 were marked by the consolidation of our independence and the severing of constitutional links with Britain, but also by persistent economic frailty. Mass emigration returned to haunt Ireland during the 1950s. The prospect of seemingly unending population decline acted as a wake-up call. In response our Government decided to open up the Irish economy to international trade and investment.
With encouragement from Government and our investment-promotion body, IDA Ireland, American firms began establishing operations in Ireland from the 1960s onwards. The aim behind attracting foreign investment was to provide Irish people with an opportunity to make their lives and livelihoods at home. This resulted in the gradual amelioration of economic conditions and engendered a greater sense of optimism about the future. Mine was the first cohort of Irish people to benefit from free high school education which significantly raised educational attainment levels and helped prepare Ireland to take advantage of the opportunities of the knowledge economy.
Today, there are more than 700 American firms with operations in Ireland where they employ 150,000 people, or about 7% of our workforce. This helped raise prosperity levels and stem the flow of emigration thus allowing our population to rise from under 3 million in 1960 to almost 5 million today. The other game changer has been our membership of the European Union, which has provided us since 1973 with open access to extensive European markets and enabled us to forge strong partnerships with our continental neighbours.
Ireland's location within the European Union has been, and continues to be, a prime incentive for US firms to choose Ireland, and this is likely to be a stronger factor in our favour when the U.K. leaves the EU next year. US forms have also been attracted by Ireland's workforce, the youngest and one of the most highly educated in Europe, and by the supportive polices of successive Irish Governments. And, yes our stable and transparent system of corporate taxation with a flat rate of 12.5% has played its role in facilitating our economic advancement to the point where Ireland has become in recent years become home to people for all over Europe and beyond. Today, some 17% of our population was born outside our State. To their credit, Irish people seem to have readily embraced the challenges of a diverse and pluralist society. Immigration is not an issue in our public debate and Eurosceptic populism has no significant support base.
The Irish economy has recovered strongly from the ravages of the Great Recession and for the past four years we have been the best performers in the Euro Zone. On present demographic trends, our population is set to approach the level it was at before the Great Famine by the time of the bicentenary of that catastrophic event in 2045-48.
Of course, for a small county like ours there can be no grounds for complacency. Ireland has a disproportionate stake in trans-Atlantic trade and this means that we have particular concerns about the imposition of tariffs. It is in our national interest to see unhindered flows of trade and investment between the EU and the US from which both sides benefit hugely. The climate of global economic openness that characterised recent decades has helped turn our country from an habitual underachiever into an international success story. A country whose main export for so long was its people is now a significant exporter of high-quality goods, capital and expertise. There are currently 500 Irish companies with operations in the United States where they employ 100,000 people across all 50 states, and this number is rising by the year.
I am proud to be part of an Irish generation that has seen our country fulfil Robert Emmett’s 200 year-old dream and take its place among the nations of the earth as a progressive European state inhabited by a people newly imbued with a tolerant, open-minded approach to life. This is why I feel that criticisms of Ireland’s taxation system, which indeed we have adjusted to match best international practice, is misplaced. It fails to recognise the bigger picture of positive economic and social transformation which is Ireland's 21st century story, one in which our trans-Atlantic connections have played a vital role.
Daniel Mulhall is Ireland’s Ambassador to the United States