Tenerife. Quo vadis? cnt

Ireland is a country whose experience we could usefully learn from. Here is a country, a relatively small island, which has transformed itself from a peasant society, the poor man of Europe, into one of the most prosperous countries in the world with no unemployment of any significance. In fact, while traditionally its main export was its youth, now Ireland has to import many thousands of foreign workers each year. This transformation, this economic miracle, has been achieved in the space of forty years i.e. in little more than one generation.
How was this transformation achieved?
There are many factors, the more important of which are listed below:
1. Number one is undoubtedly the high standard of education which has long been a tradition in Ireland (Ireland in this context always means the Republic of or Southern Ireland or Eire). The typical Irish mother with a typically large family couldn’t provide for her children in a material sense. But, though generally uneducated herself at least in any formal sense, she was driven by a desire to give her offspring the highest standard of education possible. This philosophy, in the short term, enabled Irish emigrants to achieve success and gain valuable experience overseas. More recently it has provided a highly skilled pool of labour that attracts overseas investment…not least from these very ‘emigrants’ now returning to their homeland.
2. Membership of the EU in 1973 provided a significant growth platform when the US, for historical as well as economic reasons, and Japan especially, invested heavily in Ireland which they used as a launching pad for their exports into the EU. Thus Ireland largely leapfrogged the ‘industrial revolution’ and surged straight from a primitive agricultural society into the high tech generation.
3. The fact that English, probably better spoken than in England, was the common language and
4. An attractive fiscal regime.
Tourism has also been a major factor in Ireland’s economic development over many years. It has a wonderful blend of scenery including mountains, rivers, lakes and forests and its entire marketing rationale is based on a philosophy of a Cead Míle Fáilte..one hundred thousand welcomes! The industry was originally ignited about fifty years ago by Yankees, descendents of Irish emigrants, returning to the Emerald Isle in a quest for their roots.

Furthermore, substantial EU structural funds were largely invested in infrastructure including transportation, telecommunications and education and professional training. The total package was actively marketed worldwide by a highly skilled entity: the IDA (Industrial Development Authority).
As a consequence of the foregoing factors, suburban Dublin and indeed Ireland generally has become like Silicon Valley phase two. Microsoft has its largest European R& D center there. Dell has its largest assembly and European distribution center in Limerick. Intel manufactures its processors there. The custom built Dublin Financial Services Center is in the global league etc. At this time there is no significant unemployment in Ireland. Because it is a relatively small island and with many cultural similarities to Spain generally and Tenerife specifically it appears reasonable to assume that we could learn a lot from the Irish experience. The fundamental dynamo generating this economic miracle has been and continues to be a very high standard of education and continuous professional training.
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