Science and Technology as Elements of Educational and Socio-Economic Change in Ireland, 1958-83

While many European countries after the second world war were spurred into new industrial, social and educational development, Ireland, which had adopted a neutral stance in the conflict, was much slower to engage in and benefit from such initiatives. Indeed, for most of the 1950s Ireland experienced a stagnant or declining economic performance, a continuing population decline, high levels of unemployment, high rates of emigration and a poorly-developed educational infrastructure. The economy was largely based on traditional agriculture with limited industrialisation protected by various tariff barriers. The export market on which the country depended so much was preponderantly linked to Britain which, as an industrial economy, operated a cheap food policy. Society was also permeated by a crisis of confidence as so many of the younger generation could see no future for them in their own society and it did not seem that Ireland could break through to the standards ofliving which were being attained by many Western countries. As a foundation document of the economic recovery put it, in 1958, 'a dynamic has to be found and released'' and the document realised that investment capital was not the only factor. There would be a constellation of elements needed in which 'advances in education and technical training' would be central. The succeeding 25 years witnessed great changes in which the interplay of education, science, technology and socio-economic policy and development took interesting patterns