"Luck & the Irish: A
Brief History of Change, 1970-2000"
by R. F. Foster.
Oxford University Press (New York, 2008) 240 pp.
$30.
Reviewed by John H. Carroll Catholic News Service
This new study on the emergence of the "Celtic Tiger"
should be read by Irish-Americans with an interest in
the "Ould Sod." Roy Foster, a history professor at
Hertford College at Oxford University, brings readers
up-to-date on the momentous and sudden changes that have
transformed Ireland from a somewhat removed and
underdeveloped region on the fringes of Europe to one of
the most prosperous nations in the European Union.
Today the Irish are enjoying
prosperity at home and Europeans from other parts of the
continent and even Americans are immigrating to Ireland.
The U.S. descendants of the impoverished Irish
immigrants are entitled to an answer to this question,
"What happened?"
The author indicates in his
introduction that Irish government administrations in
the latter part of the 20th century, despite political
differences, instituted changes in education that
produced a generation of young people prepared for the
computer age. Also, the rural republic in the south was
not encumbered by a depressed and antiquated industrial
base like Northern Ireland. The various Dublin
administrations attracted foreign business enterprises
with tax breaks and other incentives.
Suddenly there was more to do in
Dublin than work for the government or brew stout in the
Guinness Brewery. Dublin in its own right became a busy
and forward-looking administrative and financial center.
Agricultural modernization developed as control of old
family farms and the use of antiquated techniques were
replaced by a forward-looking younger generation.
The respective Irish government
administrations favored change and innovation. However,
the author is very critical of the Fianna Fail party
leader and Prime Minister "Charley" Haughey and his
corrupt wheeling and dealing. Fortunately for Haughey
and his associates, he died before formal charges were
ever brought against him and members of his government
for corruption and embezzlement. Other administrations
have been relatively free of corruption as prosperity
became the norm.
Foster presents an enlightening
chapter on "'Big, Mad Children': The South and the
North." He indicates that the problem is an old one
rooted in a sad history of sectarian rivalries between
Presbyterians, Anglicans and Catholics and a struggle
for political domination between Unionists, Nationalists
and Republicans. Since 1969 British, Irish and American
leaders have struggled to find a solution to the
problem.
Today matters have definitely
improved. The author notes that on one past occasion a
minor British Foreign Office official told the Irish
foreign minister that the republic had no reason to
interfere in Northern Ireland.
However, relations between London and
Dublin are better today than they've ever been. Even the
old Orange firebrand, the Rev. Ian Paisley, recently
called outgoing Prime Minister Bertie Ahern in Dublin to
ask assistance in stopping the shipment of fighting dogs
to Northern Ireland. Ahern offered to help stop the
shipments. Rev. Paisley thanked him and added that we
all live on the same island. That comment some years ago
might have helped save lives.
Readers will find "Luck & the Irish"
presents an enlightening insight into the new Ireland
("Eire Nua"), a bit apart from the "Bord Failte" old
Ireland approach.
- - -
Carroll is a retired U.S. intelligence officer who
writes frequently about Ireland and Irish-Americans.
END
04/04/2008 10:37 AM ET
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