LAUSR

The aim of this symposium is to foster a policy debate on the theme ‘Rethinking Irish Economic Development’. It is timely to address this important topic because the 2007 crisis, which was particularly severe, was but one of a series of crises that the country has experienced since the 1970s. Given that policy mistakes have contributed to these crises and that the present government is planning for Ireland 2040 (Government of Ireland, 2017), it is clearly vital for policymakers to learn from past mistakes. The symposium draws on the recent book by O’Leary (2015), which offers a narrative on the spectacular rise and fall of the so-called Celtic tiger economy. The book depicts Ireland as a microstate with a unique reliance on foreign-assisted businesses, driven in part by a favourable taxation regime. It argues that deficiencies in indigenous enterprise development have been overlooked for many decades. The problem of rent-seeking has also been persistent. It contributed to the loss of competitiveness in the lead-up to the 2007 crash. O’Leary organised a policy forum in University College Cork (UCC) on 3 November 2017. The aim of the forum was to reassess the current policy mindset in relation to economic development in order to build on strengths and