ABSTRACT
The danger signs mentioned at the end of the last chapter were only dimly seen at the time. Certainly no one at all foresaw the shattering consequences that would follow from the two oil crises, and associated world depressions. On the contrary, Ireland entered the EEC on 1 January 1973 in a confident, even exuberant, mood. It had behind it 15 years of economic progress unparalleled in its own history, which had brought about a considerable rise in living standards and an end to the secular decline in population. Great benefits for agriculture were anticipated under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In manufacturing, while it was recognised that the older industries would be threatened by increasing competition, there was every confidence that this would be more than counterbalanced by free access to the EEC market and Ireland's enhancement as a location for new foreign enterprise. That expectations were so high made it all the harder to cope with the reality which emerged during the next decade and a half. In 1987, as we conclude our study, unemployment and the national debt are at all-time high levels, living standards are depressed, substantial emigration has resumed, and the future outlook is problematic.
