Inside the Celtic Tiger: The Irish Economy and the Asian Model (Contemporary Irish Studies) (Hardcover)

by Denis O'Hearn (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
'Politicians ought to take a few pages [of Inside the Celtic Tiger] before breakfast every day.' Books Ireland'A stimulating and provocative account of the dilemmas of development in an era of globalization.' Irish Journal of Sociology --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

One of the poorest states in the European Union during the 1980s, Ireland’s economy has grown rapidly in the 1990s, despite an overwhelming dependence on foreign capital. Echoing the "tiger" economies of East Asia, this has led many to dub Ireland "the Celtic Tiger."In this original critique by one of Ireland’s leading writers on economics, Denis O’Hearn sets Ireland’s economic success in an international context and contrasts and compares its growth with the other "tiger" economies. O’Hearn addresses some difficult but crucial questions, such as whether Ireland’s apparent success is self-sustaining and what lessons can be learned from the downturn of the comparable East Asian economies. The study focuses on the importance of three US-led industrial sectors — computers, electrical engineering and pharmaceuticals — for Ireland’s rising economy. O’Hearn assesses who benefits and who loses from such foreign capital-led growth — in the context of working conditions, poverty, consumption and inequality — and argues that the country’s apparently significant economic achievements are dominated by growth in corporate profits and professional incomes, but that there is no evidence, as yet, of "trickle-down" to other sectors.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

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Product Details Hardcover: 224 pages Publisher: Pluto Press (UK) (September 1, 1998) Language: English ISBN-10: 0745312888 ISBN-13: 978-0745312880 Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,640,905 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Look Inside This Book

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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover

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Citations (learn more)

6 books cite this book:

• Labour Politics in Small Open Democracies: Australia, Chile, Ireland, New Zealand and Uruguay by Paul G. Buchanan on page 225
• Ireland and Empire: Colonial Legacies in Irish History and Culture by Stephen Howe in Back Matter
• Ireland and the British Empire (Oxford History of the British Empire) by Kevin Kenny on page 236
• Space and the Irish Cultural Imagination by Gerry Smyth in Back Matter
• The Celtic Tiger In Distress: Growth with Inequality in Ireland by Peadar Kirby in Back Matter

See all 6 books citing this book

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Customer Reviews

3 Reviews 5 star:  (2) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:  (1) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Well written, balanced, and thought-provoking., December 21, 1998 By A Customer A well written, balanced, and thought-provoking account of the Irish economic phenomenon. Denis O'Hearn confirms that government intervention has played an important role in boosting Ireland's growth. The IDA's gamble in offering huge incentives to Intel to locate near Dublin, for instance, has paid off in a big way. But he tempers his analysis by drawing attention to the way that misleading GDP numbers have overstated the Irish economy's true rate of growth. Displaying an exceptionally well informed understanding of the East Asian tigers, he correctly concludes that Ireland's effort to build its economic prowess, while impressive by European standards, falls short in many respects compared to that of nations like Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea. Eamonn Fingleton, author of "In Praise of Hard Industries: Why Manufacturing, Not the Information Economy, is the Key to Future Prosperity" ( to be published by Houghton Mifflin in June 1999). 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Well written, balanced, and thought-provoking., December 22, 1998 By A Customer A well written, balanced, and thought-provoking account of the Irish economic phenomenon. O'Hearn confirms that government intervention has played an important role in boosting Ireland's growth. The IDA's gamble in offering huge incentives to Intel to locate near Dublin, for instance, has paid off in a big way. But he tempers analysis by drawing attention to the way that misleading GDP numbers have overstated the Irish economy's true rate of growth. Eamonn Fingleton, author of "In Praise of Hard Industries: Why Manufacturing, Not the Information Economy, is the Key to Future Prosperity" ( to be published by Houghton Mifflin in June 1999). 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars Glass Half Empty or Half Full?, July 25, 2001 By  Edward Chao (Cincinnati, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    This review is from: Inside the Celtic Tiger: The Irish Economy and the Asian Model (Contemporary Irish Studies) (Paperback) Enjoyed this account of the Irish economy. There are some good insights into the nature of technology lead industrialization, and some of the distortions and exaggerations caused by such development. O'Hearn does a good job at deflating some of the euphoria over high tech in Ireland. At the same time, the tone of pessimism pervading the book seems unwarranted. Multinational corporations (MNCs) are vilified, and even Singapore is criticized for adopting a similar model for national development. MNCs have real issues but on the whole deserve higher marks than what O'Hearn grants them. O'Hearn also bemoans that Irish workers are often assigned more mundane tasks like software localization, comparing the work to that of mind numbing sweatshops or assembly lines. Ireland's contributions to the IT industry should be a source of pride, and the opportunity to take leadership will arise as a natural outgrowth of the industry's voracious appetite for talent, just as advanced R&D has taken root in Israel, India, and other places.		Ad feedback   Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Pluto Press (UK) (September 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0745312888
• ISBN-13: 978-0745312880
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,640,905 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written, balanced, and thought-provoking., December 21, 1998

By A Customer

A well written, balanced, and thought-provoking account of the Irish economic phenomenon. Denis O'Hearn confirms that government intervention has played an important role in boosting Ireland's growth. The IDA's gamble in offering huge incentives to Intel to locate near Dublin, for instance, has paid off in a big way. But he tempers his analysis by drawing attention to the way that misleading GDP numbers have overstated the Irish economy's true rate of growth. Displaying an exceptionally well informed understanding of the East Asian tigers, he correctly concludes that Ireland's effort to build its economic prowess, while impressive by European standards, falls short in many respects compared to that of nations like Singapore, Taiwan, and South Korea. Eamonn Fingleton, author of "In Praise of Hard Industries: Why Manufacturing, Not the Information Economy, is the Key to Future Prosperity" ( to be published by Houghton Mifflin in June 1999).

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well written, balanced, and thought-provoking., December 22, 1998

By A Customer

A well written, balanced, and thought-provoking account of the Irish economic phenomenon. O'Hearn confirms that government intervention has played an important role in boosting Ireland's growth. The IDA's gamble in offering huge incentives to Intel to locate near Dublin, for instance, has paid off in a big way. But he tempers analysis by drawing attention to the way that misleading GDP numbers have overstated the Irish economy's true rate of growth.

Eamonn Fingleton, author of "In Praise of Hard Industries: Why Manufacturing, Not the Information Economy, is the Key to Future Prosperity" ( to be published by Houghton Mifflin in June 1999).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Glass Half Empty or Half Full?, July 25, 2001

By	Edward Chao (Cincinnati, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Inside the Celtic Tiger: The Irish Economy and the Asian Model (Contemporary Irish Studies) (Paperback)

Enjoyed this account of the Irish economy. There are some good insights into the nature of technology lead industrialization, and some of the distortions and exaggerations caused by such development. O'Hearn does a good job at deflating some of the euphoria over high tech in Ireland.

At the same time, the tone of pessimism pervading the book seems unwarranted. Multinational corporations (MNCs) are vilified, and even Singapore is criticized for adopting a similar model for national development. MNCs have real issues but on the whole deserve higher marks than what O'Hearn grants them. O'Hearn also bemoans that Irish workers are often assigned more mundane tasks like software localization, comparing the work to that of mind numbing sweatshops or assembly lines. Ireland's contributions to the IT industry should be a source of pride, and the opportunity to take leadership will arise as a natural outgrowth of the industry's voracious appetite for talent, just as advanced R&D has taken root in Israel, India, and other places.