Gross national product growth in the third quarter of last year was an unprecedented 11 percent. Unemployment is below 5 percent compared with 15 percent six years ago. The growth is sweeping the entire country, but the most dramatic change is in Dublin Ireland s economic center and home to one-third of the country s 3.7 million residents. Dublin home prices jumped 22 percent last year. By 10 a.m., every unit was sold.
Education pays Many initiatives launched a generation ago are now paying off.
The initial road map was laid out in the Programme for Economic Expansion, a 1958 national economic development plan that eliminated protectionist tariffs and opened Ireland to foreign investment. The second leg came in 1966 when the Irish government expanded free education from grade school to high school. Free college education was added in 1995. Now, more than 40 percent of high school graduates go to college, compared with 8 percent in 1970. The steady stream of college graduates gave incoming high-tech, banking and pharmaceutical firms confidence they would have enough qualified workers to fill jobs.