Ireland

The Biggest Institution to suffer from the crash of the Celtic Tiger is Ireland in general. Our international reputation has being torn to pieces. Once Ireland was considered a prudent example of how to run a successful economy, but that has now changed. Ireland is now perceived to be a feckless and reckless country which lost the run of itself.

Many countries now consider Ireland to be a tax heaven for multinational companies. Many Euro Zone countries are exasperated by the fact that they are bailing out a country with a corporation tax significantly lower than theirs.  They see Ireland as unfairly attracting companies here by offering innovative tax measures.

Ireland has also lost its economic independence, by far the most serious and humiliating aspect of the fall of the Celtic Tiger. The Troika of the EU, IMF and ECB now have the power to decide on all of Ireland’s economic policies. These include our taxation system, labour market, level of social spending, which state assets to sell.

This little country on the edge of the Atlantic has now become a battering stick in which European politicians use to rile their electorate. Ireland is now more commonly recognised as the i in the pig rather than the emerald isle.