How Ireland became a hostage of American companies - 3

After World 1 new counties sprung up across Europe, but by 1941, there were just 3:

Finland (Ruusia 1918)

Iceland (Denmark 1918)

Irish Free State, Later Republic of Ireland (United Kingdom, 1922)

The new Irish Government, along with Siemens of Germany, began electrifying the country. 

While in opposition, De Valera argued against bringing in "foreigners" (referring to the German company Siemens). He advocated instead for a localised plan on the River Liffey (which flows through) to train Irish engineers.

Despite his initial opposition, the monumental hydroelectric project was officially completed and opened. It became a major point of national pride, revolutionising the power supply across the country. When De Valera later came to power in 1932, his government continued to expand on the state-led electricity distribution.

Cover cartoon in the July 1956 edition of the satirical magazine 'Dublin Opinion' — ‘Shortly Available: Underdeveloped Country: Unrivalled Opportunities: Magnificent Views, Political and Otherwise: Owners Going Abroad.'

Éamon de Valera was in power from 1932 to 1959 (Taoiseach / Prime Minister), with 2 periods of 3 years out of office.

The traditionalist approach De Valera, Éamon ('Dev') - Dictionary of Irish Biography, deeply embedded Catholic social teachings into the 1937 Constitution of Ireland and kept the nation insulated during the mid-20th century.

The 1926 Census was the first following the establishment of the Irish Free State (2.73 million) while the 1961 Census recorded the lowest population in Ireland's history (2.82 million).

Eamon de Valera

 

John Fitzgerald Kennedy said at Cork City Hall, on his presidential visit to Ireland in June 1963:

"Most countries send out oil or iron, steel or gold, or some other crop, but Ireland has had only one export, and that is its people."

In Western Europe, the decade was characterised by the establishment of the Common Market, which eliminated cross-border customs duties and fostered free trade. 

This economic boom led to rising real wages and a newly empowered working and middle class that could finally afford cars, televisions, and modern appliances.

Inflow of people from abroad in the 1970s 

For the first time in Irish history, more people were moving into the country than were leaving.

However, this wasn't a sudden influx of foreign immigrants. Instead, it was largely made up of returning Irish emigrants—many of whom had left for places like the UK and the US in the 1950s—who were coming home with their foreign-born spouses and children to raise families.

Additionally, many retirees and some returning missionaries added to the demographic shift, leading to an overall population increase of nearly 400,000 during the decade.

Ireland joined the European Economic Community (EEC)—commonly called the Common Market and the precursor to today's European Union—on January 1, 1973. This historic step was approved by a landslide 83% of the public in a national referendum held in May 1972.

American companies began opening facilities in Ireland

The 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 recognised 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.

The Celtic Tiger 1995-2008

The phrase you provided perfectly describes the origin of the Celtic Tiger. 

Coined by a Morgan Stanley economist in 1994, who 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).

The International Monetary Fund said that during the Celtic Tiger (1995–2008), Ireland transformed into a booming economy driven by low corporate taxes and foreign investment.

However, this success morphed into a speculative bubble.

Irish banks engaged in massive over-lending, extending credit to property developers and buyers, which resulted in a severe crash and an eventual international bailout. 

The Central Bank of Ireland and financial regulators were terribly stupid, with a light-touch approach, failing to enforce strict limits or discipline the market as banks chased market share.

Besides a housing crisis, Ireland has a poor record in exports and an appalling record in handling big projects

Foreign-owned multinationals dominate Ireland's trade, accounting for 87% of all goods exports by value. Their exports are primarily to Belgium-Luxembourg, the United Kingdom, Germany, and the Netherlands, with pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and ICT products. Ireland's primary foreign-owned export destinations (& total export figures) : 

• United States: €73.5 billion (39% of total)
Netherlands: €23 billion (12%)
United Kingdom: €20.7 billion (11%)
Germany: €20 billion
Belgium: €17 billion

R&D Expenditure and Investment

The financial breakdown of the Business Expenditure on Research and Development (BERD) illustrates a massive disparity in spending capacity: ]

Homegrown Enterprises: Account for about $1.21 billion (€1.1 billion) of total R&D expenditure.
Foreign-Domiciled Firms: Account for about $6.49 billion (€5.9 billion) of all enterprise R&D spend. 

Ireland, The Netherlands and tiny Luxembourg are Europe's top corporate tax havens - 2 

OECD Economic Surveys: Ireland 2025 _ Housing

The New Children's Hospital: A Timeline of Delays

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 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.

Ireland faces a massive infrastructure demand, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council estimating a 25% to 32% physical infrastructure and quality deficit compared to other high-income European nations.

Key areas of demand and strategy include:

The National Development Plan (NDP): The Irish government has committed a record €275.4 billion between 2026 and 2035 to tackle these deficits across housing, transport, energy, and water.
Sector-Specific Allocations: Capital budgets are heavily skewed toward critical needs, including approximately €36 billion for housing, €24.3 billion for transport (including the MetroLink Dublin project), and €12.2 billion for water infrastructure.
Capacity and Bottlenecks: Resolving these demands is hampered by a severe workforce shortage of up to 110,000 workers, lower-than-average construction productivity, and planning permission delays
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:

Disscussion

Ireland has done a good service for large American companies, utilising the Tax Haven facilities to hoover up funds across Europe and route them via the Emerald Isle and the U.S. 

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

Irish Times

Ireland is now the fifth-largest investor in the US (It's not) 

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.

The Taoiseach was expected to highlight €6.1 billion in planned US investment by Irish firms this year as part of St Patrick’s Day events.

 Wed Mar 11 2026 - 10:19

It relates to U.S. Tax Inversions that become Irish for tax purposes (A 15% effective tax rate applies to large corporate groups with global revenues over €750 million, following international OECD agreements). The current Inversions will continue.

R&D Investment Scoreboard (top 800 EU) with only 10 Irish companies in 2025.

Top Irish Companies in the USA

10 Irish companies operate hundreds of localised physical footprints in the US. The absolute largest employers and market drivers include: [1]

Company	Main US Sector	US Scale & Footprint
CRH	Building Materials	The largest building materials provider in North America; employs 50,000 people across 48 states.
Smurfit Westrock	Packaging	World's largest listed packaging company; employs 32,000 Americans across 300 locations.
Kerry Group	Taste & Nutrition	Cumulative investment exceeds $5 billion; employs 5,000 staff across 19 states, including a new Pennsylvania facility.
Glanbia	Performance Nutrition	Operates 20+ production facilities and innovation centers with nearly 4,000 US employees.
Kingspan	Insulation & Renovation	Employs 2,700 people at 32 sites across 17 states, driving major rural manufacturing renovations.
Applegreen	Travel & Food Service	One of the largest highway service plaza operators in the US, running over 100 motorway service plazas.
Stripe	Fintech	Co-headquartered in the US and Ireland, dictating a massive portion of online B2B payment transactions.

USA: 10 companies since 1932

CRH employs approximately 1,976 people in the Republic of Ireland, representing about 2.7% of its total global workforce.

Modified Gross National Income (GNI*) at constant market prices for the year 2025.

€602,441,000 falls to €334,000,OOO and it was €61,183 per person (Annual National Accounts 2025).

[ Email: finfacts1@gmail.com ]