As the only English-speaking country in the European Monetary Union, Ireland is a natural for U.S. companies eager to tap into the European market of 350 million consumers. So far, more than 500 U.S. companies have set up operations in Ireland. There would be no Celtic Tiger without American businesses, said Donal Geaney, chairman and CEO of Elan Corp., a Dublin-based drug maker. Since Ireland missed out on the Industrial Revolution, it has few dirty factories or smokestacks, except in Belfast. Likewise, there is no entrenched power base clinging to outmoded industries.
Agriculture is out.
The computer is king. We went from potatoes to chips, said Finn Gallen, a spokesman for the Industrial Development Agency. Ireland also benefited from a shift in demographics. About 40 percent of the population is 25 and younger. Nearly 70 percent haven t reached 40.