1Economic Development on the Island of IrelandBank of Valletta Review, N. 26, Autumn 2002 ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ON THE ISLAND OF IRELAND: DIFFERING EXPERIENCES OF NORTH AND SOUTH

Abstract. Historical context is all-important in any understand-ing of Irish economic development. This paper summarise key background issues concerning the two economies on the island between the dramatic industrialisation in the late 19th century of the region that now makes up Northern Ireland, and the equally dramatic modernisation of the Republic of Ireland in the late 20th century. Turning to the state of the two economies today, we show that a fortuitous consequence of the last decade of fast growth in the Republic of Ireland is that the two economies face each other across the North-South border with a much greater degree of social and economic parity than they have done at any time since partition in 1920. Turning to the future, the paper explores how the island economy might evolve during the next couple of decades, at a time when the EU economy is likely to be increasingly integrated