Received
images of Dublin, and of Ireland, in the international
public consciousness are of a graceful Georgian city and
a country replete with wild, beautiful landscapes. Among
architects abroad, Dublin’s recent success in pursuing
an urban renewal agenda would also be known from the many
awards for projects such as Temple Bar. There would also
be a general awareness of the remarkable transformation
of Ireland’s economy over the past decade by the
‘Celtic Tiger’ boom, which has turned us—much
to our own amazement—into the second wealthiest
country in the world (measured on a per capita basis).
Nothing more graphically illustrates this metamorphosis
than the figures for migration. During the bleak years
of the 1980s, 40,000 people a year—including the
best and brightest—were leaving the country to get
jobs in Britain, continental Europe and the USA. Now,
ironically, a greater number of immigrants enters Ireland
every year from other European Union member states (notably
Poland), as well as from Asia, Africa and Latin America.
One recent survey found that no less than 167 languages
are in daily use in Ireland today—truly amazing
for an island at the edge of Europe. (Download
full essay PDF)
Frank McDonald is Environment Editor
ofThe
Irish Times, author of The Destruction of
Dublin, Saving the City and The Construction
of Dublin, and joint author with James Nix of
Chaos at the Crossroads.
