Sixties Ireland Reshaping the Economy, State and Society, 1957}}}1973 [Hardcover]

A radical new perspective revealing the truth behind the making of modern Ireland from economic rebirth to entering the EEC.A comprehensive account of the remaking of Ireland's economy and society. Mary E. Daly examines how this small state responded to the political and economic pressures associated with modern industrialisation and EEC membership; a story that is instructive to contemporary debates about sovereignty and globalisation.A comprehensive account of the remaking of Ireland's economy and society. Mary E. Daly examines how this small state responded to the political and economic pressures associated with modern industrialisation and EEC membership; a story that is instructive to contemporary debates about sovereignty and globalisation.This provocative new history of Ireland during the long 1960s exposes the myths of Ireland's modernisation. Mary E. Daly questions traditional interpretations which see these years as a time of prosperity when Irish society  led by a handful of key modernisers  abandoned many of its traditional values in its search for economic growth. Setting developments in Ireland in a wider European context, Daly shows instead that claims for the economic transformation of Ireland are hugely questionable: Ireland remained one of the poorest countries in western Europe until the end of the twentieth century. Contentious debates in later years over contraception, divorce, and national identity demonstrated continuities with the past that long survived the 1960s. Spanning the period from Ireland's economic rebirth in the 1950s to its entry into the EEC in 1973, this is a comprehensive reinterpretation of a critical period in Irish history with clear parallels for Ireland today.Introduction; Part I. The Economy: 1. 'Bringing up the rear of the pack' in Europe's golden age of economic growth; 2. Transforming the economy: whose plan?; 3. Coping with change 1: industry and trade unions; 4. Coping with change 2: agriculture and rural Ireland; lc$