Introduction

Twenty-five years ago, when the Political Studies Association of Ireland (PSAI) was established, a book was published which sought to reflect the changes Ireland had undergone in the previous 25 years. Despite having just suffered a depression, the (very) late 1950s had been a time of hope in the Republic of Ireland — not least because of the Whitaker Report which promised to open up Ireland to external economic forces. However by 1982 the introduction of that book, intriguingly titled Unequal Achievement, painted a bleak picture:

The Irish economy is in recession. Unemployment is rising and the social problems which follow from economic stagnation are growing. Despondency seems to be on the increase, as though the intractability of our problems had at last sapped our will to solve them.

(Litton, 1982, p. ix)