The 1990s: The Celtic Tiger, Immigration, and Racism in Ireland

Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,3, University of Heidelberg (Anglistisches Seminar), course: Emigration and the Irish, language: English, abstract: The headline 'She moves through the boom' is not my invention, but it is basically what this essay is about: Ann Marie Hourianne describes what modern Irish everyday life looks like at the turn of the millennium: Ireland between Londonisation and shepherds, between New York lifestyle and traditional St. Patrick's Day. This essay is about the other side of the story: The point from which Ireland started its boom in the late 1980s, early 1990s, a country caught in deep depression. There is an account of the political measures taken to turn the development round, how these measures affected the country, and a little bit of economic theory to try and explain these developments on a smaller scale. To round off the economic side of the development, there is also a critical analysis of the phenomenon often called the Celtic Tiger. The second part of the essay is about how Ireland turned from emigration to immigration. Asylum-seekers became a major issue in Ireland in the second half of the 1990s, and the focus in this essay is on separating myth from truth by comparing the asylum-seekers' and refugees' situation in Ireland with the situation and figures of other European countries. Finally, the conclusion tries to combine these two areas dealt with in the essay and gives an outlook on possible future developments and action against racism.