Understanding Contemporary Ireland: Mapping Change into the Twenty-first Century - Hardcover

Kitchin, Rob

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0745325955 ISBN 13: 9780745325958

Verlag: Pluto Press, 2007

Inhaltsangabe

This book provides a detailed, student-friendly overview of Ireland in the twenty-first century and the remarkable economic and social transformations that have occurred since the late 1980s.

The "Celtic Tiger" phenomenon has made Ireland the focus of much attention in recent years. Other countries have openly declared that they want to follow the Irish economic and social model. Yet there is no book that gives a comprehensive, spatially-informed analysis of the Irish experience. This book fills that gap.

Divided into four parts—planning and development, the economy, the political landscape, and population and social issues—the chapters provide an explanation of a particular aspect of Ireland and Irish life accompanied by illustrative material. In particular, the authors reveal how the transformations that have occurred are uneven and unequal in their effects across the country and highlight the challenges now facing Irish society and policy-makers.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorinnen und Autoren

Brendan Bartley is the project leader for International Centre for Local and Regional Development at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Rob Kitchin is Director of the National Institute for Regional and Spatial analysis at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth.

Rozina Visram is an independent scholar working on multiculturalism and education. She is the author of Ayahs, Lascars and Princes (Pluto Press, 1986).

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Understanding Contemporary Ireland

By Brendan Bartley, Rob Kitchin

Pluto Press

Copyright © 2007 Brendan Bartley & Rob Kitchin
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-7453-2595-8

Contents

1. Ireland in the Twenty-first Century Rob Kitchin and Brendan Bartley, 1, 
PART I: PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT, 
Introduction, 27, 
2. Planning in Ireland Brendan Bartley, 31, 
3. Regional Development James A. Walsh, 44, 
4. Urban Systems Des McCafferty, 57, 
5. Urban Property Development Andrew MacLaran and Sinead Kelly, 71, 
6. Rural Development John McDonagh, 88, 
7. Transport James E. Killen, 100, 
8. Strategic Spatial Planning in Northern Ireland Michael R. Murray and Brendan Murtagh, 112, 
PART II: ECONOMY, 
Introduction, 125, 
9. The Manufacturing Sector Chris Van Egeraat and Proinnsias Breathnach, 128, 
10. The Services Sector Proinnsias Breathnach, 146, 
11. Agriculture in Transition James A. Walsh, 158, 
12. Tourism and Heritage Catherine Kelly, 170, 
PART III: POLITICAL LANDSCAPE, 
Introduction, 181, 
13. Elections and Voting Adrian Kavanagh, 185, 
14. Transformations in Governance Joe Larragy and Brendan Bartley, 197, 
15. Green Ireland? The Governance of Waste G. Honor Fagan and Michael J. Murray, 208, 
16. The Meaning of Northern Ireland Brian Graham, 221, 
PART IV: POPULATION AND SOCIAL ISSUES, 
Introduction, 233, 
17. Immigration: Labour Migrants, Asylum Seekers and Refugees Piaras Mac Einri, 236, 
18. Transformations in Housing Mary P Corcoran, Karen Keaveney and Patrick J. Duffy, 249, 
19. Deprivation and its Spatial Articulation Trutz Haase, 264, 
20. Health and Disease Frank Houghton and Dennis Pringle, 279, 
21. 'For the Way We Live Today': Consumption, Lifestyle and Place Denis Linehan, 289, 
CONCLUSION, 
22. Ireland Now and in the Future Rob Kitchin and Brendan Bartley, 301, 
Notes, 309, 
References, 313, 
About the contributors, 335, 
Index, 337, 

CHAPTER 1

Ireland in the Twenty-first Century

Rob Kitchin and Brendan Bartley

By any standards, the Republic of Ireland (henceforth Ireland) is a country that has undergone enormous transformations since the start of the 1990s. Economically, socially, culturally, politically, environmentally, there have been profound changes to the Irish landscape and everyday life. Concurrently, Ireland's position on the world stage has been elevated. Ireland is no longer a poor nation on the periphery of Europe characterised by a weak economy and high emigration. Ireland is a country with a booming economy that is the envy of many nations. Economic growth over the last decade has been double or more that of its European neighbours, and wealth levels in terms of average income are amongst the highest of any developed nation. A sustained growth in population, fuelled by return migration, immigrants seeking work, and natural increase, has meant that in 2004 the population exceeded 4 million for the first time since 1871 (CSO 2004a). Irish culture has a high cache globally – Irish music, literature, fashion, art, dance, and pubs have become global phenomena (think U2, Enya, Seamus Heaney, John Connolly, John Rocha, Waterford Crystal, Riverdance, and so on). Huge strides forward have been made in addressing the so-called 'Irish problem' – 'the Troubles' of Northern Ireland, first with a cease-fire in 1994, followed by the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and the peace process in general. As a result of these changes, being Irish has gained cultural capital (in Bourdieu's, 1984, terms), as evidenced by the resurgence in diasporic identity and the popularity of St Patrick's Day events in numerous countries (some 2 million people were reported to have either taken part in, or watched, the New York parade in 2006; O'Driscoll, 2006).

It is little wonder then that Ireland's success story has become the focus of attention for economic analysts and social commentators from around the world. Ireland demonstrates that radical transformation on a number of fronts is possible in a relatively short space of time. Negative features such as a stagnant economy, a relatively moribund social order, and political conflict have been tackled and transformed into virtuous trends in ways that were beyond comprehension in the 1980s. Ireland has thus become a place that other countries want to emulate, particularly those of Eastern Europe, which have experienced similar situations in their past and whose social, economic and political situation at present is similar to pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland. It also holds lessons for other developed nations (for example, it is possible to ask what the economically depressed areas of the north-eastern United States can learn from the Irish strategy and experience). These countries even send their students, policy makers and government officials to Ireland to identify lessons that might help them to re-energise their economies and tackle issues of social development. As strange as it may sound to many Irish people who have witnessed the recent changes and are familiar with on-going problems in Irish society, other countries proclaim that they 'want to be the next Ireland' (for example, Hungary).

This book examines Ireland in the twenty-first century. It sets out to document the various ways that Ireland has changed over the past 15 years or so (while still placing that within the context of longer-term, historical development), the key drivers shaping change, and how government, policy makers and workers on the ground have managed the transformations occurring through specific policies and interventions. In particular, it provides a spatial analysis that recognises that Ireland is not a homogenous country, and that there are significant variations in the patterns and processes of phenomena and the ways in which policy interventions are scaled. For example, the situation with regard to housing, transport, tourism, and industry, to take a selection of issues, is markedly different in urban and rural areas, and varies dramatically between different parts of the country (contrast for example the differences between the Atlantic seaboard and the Dublin Metropolitan Region). Interventions take place on different scales – local, county, regional, national – driven by policy itself formulated and implemented on varying scales including the international (European Union, United Nations, etc.). In short, the contributors highlight the various ways in which geography matters for what is occurring in Ireland, but also for understanding the ongoing transformations of the country. Undertaking this kind of analysis is important because it is often overlooked by social scientists who instead focus on undertaking more traditional, aspatial, social and economic investigations. In taking space seriously, the contributors provide a platform for us to think about Ireland differently, in a fundamental, applied, and policy-oriented sense. In doing so, they provide fresh insight into Ireland in the twenty-first century.

In this introductory chapter, we provide a broad overview and explanation of some of the changes that have taken place, and examine their consequences. In the first section we provide a brief picture of Ireland in the 1980s as a benchmark for understanding and evaluating the transformation of Ireland in the 1990s and early 2000s. In the following section we outline six key trends and phenomena that underpin the changes that have occurred, and detail what some of their key effects have been....

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Pluto Press
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2007
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0745325955
• ISBN 13: 9780745325958
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 336
• Herausgeber: Bartley Brendan
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar