Ireland in the World: 20 yars

In 1994, at Morgan Stanley, he wrote the “Celtic Tiger” report on the Irish economy, still the fastest-growing economy in Western Europe.

The phrase you provided perfectly describes the origin of the Celtic Tiger. Coined by a Morgan Stanley economist in 1994, it likened Ireland's rapid, export-driven economic catch-up in the 1990s and 2000s to the phenomenal boom experienced by the Four Asian Tigers (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan).

Other major companies that established a strong foothold in Ireland leading up to the 1990s include:

• Pfizer: Opened in Cork in 1969 (followed later by massive facilities in Grange Castle, Dublin and Newbridge).
• Abbott: Established its first Irish nutritional plant in Cootehill in 1975, expanding to medical diagnostics and devices.
• Apple: Opened its first European manufacturing facility in Hollyhill, Cork in 1980.
• Boston Scientific: Established its roots in Ireland with early MedTech manufacturing before the 1990s.
• Intel: Arrived in Kildare in 1989, anchoring Ireland’s expanding semiconductor and technology footprint. 

Technology & Electronics

• Intel: Officially landed in 1990 (after securing the deal in 1989), opening its massive silicon wafer fabrication plant in Leixlip, Co. Kildare. 
• Dell: Established its major European manufacturing and customer support hub in Limerick in 1991, which quickly grew into one of the country's largest employers.
• Hewlett-Packard (HP): Set up a massive manufacturing campus in Leixlip, Co. Kildare in 1995 to produce inkjet cartridges.
• Gateway 2000: The major U.S. personal computer brand opened its European headquarters and manufacturing facility in Clonshaugh, Dublin in 1993.

Pharmaceuticals & Healthcare

• Boston Scientific: Opened its first Irish manufacturing facility in Galway in 1994, anchoring what would become a globally recognized medical device hub in the West of Ireland.
• Bausch + Lomb: Established its landmark contact lens manufacturing facility in Waterford in 1992.

Financial Services & Consulting

• International Financial Services Centre (IFSC): While designated in 1987, the Dublin docks saw a flood of global banks and fund managers (such as Citibank and Merrill Lynch) build out their massive corporate footprints here between 1990 and 1995.

 

Originally projected to cost €650 million with a 2022 opening date, the total cost has ballooned to over €2.24 billion, with the main contractor issuing further multi-million euro claims. As of mid-2026, the construction has missed its completion deadline 19 times.

This project is not an isolated incident; it reflects systemic issues within Ireland’s procurement, planning, and management of large-scale public works. 

The New Children's Hospital: A Timeline of Delays

The initiative to merge Dublin's three existing children's hospitals (Crumlin, Temple Street, and Tallaght) into a single, world-class facility began decades ago. However, its execution has faced severe bottlenecks: 

Procurement and Design Creep: A major factor highlighted by an independent PwC Review was that the contract was greenlit before the final design was fully complete. This led to thousands of late-stage design modifications and major cost inflation.

The 19 Missed Deadlines: The construction firm, BAM Ireland, has continually revised its substantial completion dates. The latest target slipped from April 2026 to August 2026 due to extensive "snagging" issues, including dust contamination in the critical theatre ventilation ducts.

The Winter Risk Delay: Because moving highly vulnerable pediatric patients from old facilities to the new campus is a massive logistical challenge, health officials have ruled out a move during the high-demand winter months (November to March). Consequently, the facility is not expected to see patients until mid-2027.

Other Troubled Public Projects in Ireland

The procedural paralysis and budget overruns seen at the children's hospital are mirrored across several other massive public infrastructure plans:

Project	Original Estimate	Current/Projected Cost	Status / Issues
MetroLink (Dublin)	Initial estimates under €3bn	Projected up to €9.5bn – €12.3bn	Decades of planning; pending final planning board approvals and delayed tunnelling.
National Broadband Plan	€500 million (initial)	Expected €3 billion	Highly criticised procurement process; slow initial rollouts but progressing.
National Maternity Hospital	€150 million	Expected over €1 billion	Mired for years in political, legal, and ownership disputes regarding its relocation to Elm Park.

Ireland, The Netherlands and tiny Luxembourg are Europe's top corporate tax havens

Data compiled by the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council (IFAC) has revealed that the top 10 corporate groups accounted for about 59% of all corporation tax receipts [U.S.]

In 2025, foreign-owned multinationals in Ireland paid the bulk of Ireland’s corporation tax receipts: in 2025, they paid 87% of them [U.S.]. 

While 3 countries are in the top 10 corporate tax havens in the world, [U.S.] - 1

Enterprise Ireland, a government unit, said this year that client companies achieved record exports of €38.86bn in 2025 [very poor results].

Exports to Europe and the UK both exceeded €11bn for the first time. Exports to North America grew to €7.34bn in 2025, a 1% increase on the year prior. 

"Enterprise Ireland is very proud of the €43.73bn contribution these companies made to the Irish economy in terms of expenditure last year, equating to almost €120m per day (on payroll, goods, and services), and they now employ 232,425 people in towns and villages around the country," said Enterprise Ireland chief executive Jenny Melia. 

On the contrary, the record is very poor.

Denmark's population is approximately 6,032,900, while Ireland's population is around 5,400,000 to 5,500,000.

Denmark's international goods exports reached €129.59bn ($148.1bn) in 2025, compared with Ireland's €38.86bn. 

Pfizer of the U.S. has a history of secrecy and use tax havens which benefits Ireland : Corporate Tax - 1

Pfizer using Dutch letterbox company to avoid taxes

Pfizer has been the subject of significant controversy regarding both corporate fraud in the United States and aggressive tax avoidance structures that heavily utilise its operations in Ireland.

While the company's multi-billion dollar fraud settlements and its Irish tax strategies are separate legal issues, they collectively highlight how the corporation manages its global legal and financial liabilities. 

It's time for Pfizer, the American company, to get on its bike. By utilising complex international tax rules, the company managed to drop its effective global tax rate down to just 9.3% on those specific earnings. 

One of the first American pharmaceutical companies to establish operations in Ireland (1969), Pfizer has more than 4,500 employees across 4 Irish locations in Cork, Dublin, and Kildare.

In 2026, the total number of employees worldwide is 81,000.

At Pfizer in Ireland, non-management professionals (technicians, analysts) typically earn between €40,000 and €65,000 annually.

Management and senior technical roles command higher bands, ranging from €70,000 to over €130,000 per year, depending on the level of responsibility and experience.

Pfizer salaries vary by location (e.g., Dublin vs. regional sites like Cork or Kildare), role specifics, and annual performance bonuses or stock options.

Pfizer's operations in Ireland accounted for roughly a quarter of the company's total global corporate tax returns in 2025. 

The pharmaceutical giant's Irish tax bill was approximately $1.02 billion, representing more than 25% of its $4.69 billion global corporate tax obligations.

A miracle like the loaves and the fishes in the Bible!

In May 2025, the EU Court ruled in favour of The New York Times in an appeal against the European Commission's decision to withhold text messages exchanged with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla during COVID-19 vaccine negotiations. The Commission faced significant criticism for a lack of transparency

Ireland says Isreal is the last European planter colony and now is an Apartheid Regime

Israel's security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, was filmed taunting Gaza flotilla activists as they knelt on the floor with their hands tied. Photograph: Erik Marmor/Getty Images.

Ben-Gvir was convicted in 2007 of racist incitement and support for groups on terrorism blacklists. For years, he prominently displayed a photo in his living room of Baruch Goldstein, who massacred 29 Muslim worshippers in Hebron in 1994.

'Don't Be Bothered by Their Screams'

Ben-Gvir Posts Video of Police Dragging Detained Gaza Flotilla Activists

The video shows the activists kneeling on a metal floor in an unshaded area while Israel's anthem is playing and armed Border Police officers watch. Later in the video, a woman is heard pleading and screaming, as Ben-Gvir says, 'Don't be bothered by their screams.'

On May 15, more than 50 vessels sailed from the Turkish port city of Marmaris, in what organisers described as the final stage of a journey aimed at challenging Israel’s blockade of the besieged Palestinian enclave.

Israeli forces began storming the boats in international waters off the coast of Cyprus on Monday, organisers said, and abducted activists.

The Israelis called them terrorists, but who were the gagisters 

Xi Jinping of China warns President Trump of the “Thucydides Trap”

On May 14, 2026, President Xi Jinping hosted US President Donald J. Trump for a state visit in Beijing, visiting the historic Temple of Heaven before holding talks at the Great Hall of the People.

The visit aimed to highlight Chinese history and civilisation, with the leaders touring the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests and emphasising harmony and dialogue.

The Thucydides Trap in recent times

The New York Times reported that "As the leaders of the United States and China met in Beijing on Thursday, Xi Jinping had a much older rivalry on his mind.

The Chinese president invoked a warning from the Classical world, when the Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta went to war, saying that the United States and China should beware the “Thucydides Trap” in their own relations.

Malaysia's Highlands and My Mediterranean Diet

Cameron Highlands in Peninsular Malaysia

In 1885, William Cameron, a British colonial government surveyor, "discovered" the plateau that is now known as the Cameron Highlands. 

During a mapping expedition in the Banjaran Titiwangsa area, he stumbled upon the plateau at an elevation of approximately 4,500–5,600 feet above sea level.

William Cameron (1833-1886), along with his assistant, Kulop Riau (a Malay guide and local warrior), who accompanied him when mapping the Pahang-Perak border area (from 1880), eventually discovered the highland plateau for the British Crown.

Together, they reached the peak of Gunung Pondok Challi, where Cameron first sighted the high plateau that now bears his name.

While William Cameron, a British surveyor, is credited with "discovering" and mapping the plateau in 1885, he was not the first to live in or know of the area.

Indigenous peoples, specifically the Orang Asli (Semai people), inhabited the region long before his expedition.

He died in Singapore at the age of 53, reportedly from an accidental overdose of insomnia medication (?).

The Semai people (a subgroup of the Orang Asli) live in the Cameron Highlands region of Pahang, Malaysia.

They are indigenous to the area, with communities located near areas like Kampung Taman and Kampung Kuala Terla. The Semai in this region traditionally practice subsistence farming and rely on the forest.

The normal temperature in Cameron Highlands is significantly cooler than the rest of Malaysia due to its high elevation. 

On average, the daily temperature is about 18°C (64°F).

In the 30s Ameicans discovered oil in Arabia and in the 40s the Zionists ejected Palestions who were there for generations

On February 14, 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) met King Abduaziz Al Saudi Arabia aboard the USS Quincy in Egypt's Great Bitter Lake

The meeting took place immediately after the Yalta Conference, while FDR was returning from a conference with Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin.

In modern times, Yalta, along with the rest of Crimea, is internationally recognised as part of Ukraine and is considered part of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.

The 1930s in Arabia marked the birth of the modern Saudi state and the dawn of its oil age. 

King Abdulaziz Al Saud unified the kingdom in 1932, bringing stability to the Hejaz [the mountainous region in western Saudi Arabia stretching along the Red Sea coast from Jordan to Asir, encompassing major cities like Jeddah, Mecca, and Medina] and the Najd region [the central area with Riyadh, the capital.] 

In the early 1930s, the economy of the newly formed Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was extremely poor. It relied heavily on revenues from foreign pilgrims visiting the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

Ireland fifth top investor in US at $389 billion: Leprechaun economics again

Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Micheál Martin of Ireland presents President Trump with the traditional shamrock bowl. 

Ireland is now the fifth-largest source of foreign direct investment in the US, with investment by Irish companies totalling $389 billion (€335 billion), according to Enterprise Ireland, an Irish Government agency.

The Government provides a breakdown of the information. It lists 10 Irish countounties that employ 125,000 people, and there has been a blank on Tax Inversions.

Irish Investment in the United States Reaches Historic Levels

Apart from the 10 Irish companies, there is no reference to where the remaining $389 billion is coming from.

This is Leprechaun economics again.

In 2024, Enterprise Ireland reported that worldwide, the value of goods was € 36.75 billion, with only € 7.3 billion in North America. 

We sell goods valued at about €5.5 billion to the U.S. in 2024, but Irish companies spend $389 billion there?????

Most Irish people would say: "What a load of Bollocks." 

Between 1946 and 2024, the U.S. gifted $330 billion to Israel in 2024 terms

The revolutionaries of the 19th Century in Europe: Marx and Engels

According to Karl Marx's theory of historical materialism, societies pass through Six Stages — 1) Primitive Communism 2) Slave Society 3) Feudalism 4) Capitalism 5) Socialism and finally 6) Global Stateless Communism.

The Communist Manifesto, originally the Manifesto of the Communist Party, is a political pamphlet written by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It was commissioned by the Communist League and published in London.

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels published their work in German in London in February 1848. 

While they commissioned and wrote the text, Marx and Engels were not present at the publication, as they were active in revolutionary movements elsewhere, with Marx being expelled from Belgium around the same time

The word "communism" was coined around 1840 in Paris, France. It emerged from French revolutionary, utopian, and socialist circles (such as those around Étienne Cabet) to describe a society based on common ownership. 

Americans are paying 94% for Trump's Tarfifs' hoax

The 47th and 25th presidents of the United States 

A study by the New York Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Columbia University found that, from January 2024 to November 2025, the bulk of the tariff costs was borne by US firms and consumers.

In the first eight months of 2025, 94% of the tariff incidence was borne by the United States, they said.

“In sum, US firms and consumers continue to bear the bulk of the economic burden of the high tariffs imposed in 2025,” the study found.

Results were published February 12, 2026

Who Is Paying for the 2025 U.S. Tariffs?

“I am a Tariff Man,” Trump tweeted in 2018. “When people or countries come in to raid the great wealth of our Nation, I want them to pay for the privilege of doing so.”

According to the Commerce Department report released on February 20, 2026, the U.S. economy grew at an annual rate of 1.4% in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Donald Trump told the World Economic Forum in Davos in January: Growth is exploding, Productivity is surging, Investment is soaring...we are the hottest countries anywhere in the world."    

New York Times Feb 19, 2026

"U.S. Imports Grew in 2025, as Trump’s Tariffs Reshuffled Global Trade

Data released Thursday by the Census Bureau showed the overall trade deficit with the world narrowed, the result of an expanding trade surplus in services. The trade deficit in goods was the highest on record..."

Growth in manufacturing output also hasn’t yet translated into more jobs. American manufacturers cut more than 80,000 jobs in the past year. The president has ignored any data that does not fit his message. This past week, Mr. Trump had claimed on Truth Social that the trade deficit had “BEEN REDUCED BY 78% BECAUSE OF THE TARIFFS BEING CHARGED TO OTHER COMPANIES AND COUNTRIES. IT WILL GO INTO POSITIVE TERRITORY DURING THIS YEAR, FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MANY DECADES.”

The newspaper says  "It’s not clear what metrics the president was referring to, and the White House did not clarify."

On Friday, after the slapdown on tariffs by the Supreme Court, Trump signed a temporary 10% duty on imports under the Trade Act of 1974, which allows the president to set import restrictions for up to 150 days. Later Friday, the Wizard of Tariffs decided to jack them up to 15%.