ABSTRACT
Economic and social indicators which, significantly, began to assume great importance in the minds of politicians, administrators, and journalists, illustrate the extent and speed of these changes. Rapid industrialization and rising prosperity hastened the movement from country to town and from agriculture to industrial and service occupations. The legal obligations of membership of the Communities had a considerable effect on Irish economic and social life, not least in respect of rights issues in employment, non-discrimination, and equal pay. Secularization is 'that process by which many sections of society and culture are removed from the influence of religious values, institutions and symbols'. The country was brought face to face with unpleasant economic realities, but at the same time possibilities of growth and prosperity were opened up. Ireland would henceforth move in the same direction and at roughly the same pace as the other Community countries.
