Ireland's Multiple Interface-Periphery Development Model: Achievements and Limits

Abstract

This paper argues that the Irish development model of recent years is best described as a multiple interface-periphery one: the strategy was to use Ireland's national sovereignty to exploit the economic possibilities (FDI, access to protected markets, differences in corporate tax regimes, structural funds) inherent in a situation of three-sided peripherality (in respect to Britain, the EU and the US). For a time the model seemed to be a winning one, producing the spectacular economic growth of the Celtic Tiger period and attracting strong international interest. However the challenges of working this model were underestimated, including dealing with its dynamic effect on Irish politics, class relations and state institutions. The post-2008 crisis is in large part a crisis of this development model.

Keywords: Interface-periphery, development models, economic crisis, Ireland