equally, domestic firms are able to scale up in the context of the eu - wide single market, enabling better growth opportunities. so how did we do it and what lessons have been learned? one primary lesson is that, for a small country, gaining access to a large market is an enormous opportunity : it has transformed the outlook of our domestic enterprise sector and has been a fundamental building block of our success in attracting fdi. a second lesson is that eu membership by itself was not sufficient : domestic policies and domestic institutions must provide the environment conducive to a flourishing enterprise sector. despite eu membership, ireland ’ s economic success was not overnight. an unsustainable growth spurt in the late 1970s was followed by prolonged stagnation during the 1980s, with ireland caught in a trap of low growth, significant emigration and high debt. this period came to an end in the late 1980s, when a combination of improving external conditions and resolute fiscal actions stabilised the irish macro - financial situation. in turn, this allowed ireland to take advantage of structural changes in the world economy in the 1990s that supported expansion in international trade in high - tech goods and business services. especially during the 1994 – 2001 period, ireland grew at a remarkable pace while maintaining macro - financial stability, with strong increases in output, employment and living standards. the unemployment rate fell from almost 17 per cent in 1987 to just over 4 per cent by the turn of the millennium ; the fiscal balance moved from a deficit of over 8 per cent of gdp to a surplus of 2. 7 per cent ; the debt - to gdp ratio declined from in excess of 110 per cent to under 40 per cent over the same period ; and the current account was in surplus. this period up to 2001 was termed the ‘ celtic tiger ’ era, by analogy to the fast - growing group of emerging asian economies that had enjoyed rapid expansion in the 1970s and 1980s. it is important to emphasise that sustainable growth was only possible due to a long period of public investment in the education sector that provided an important local supply of high - skilled workers. in addition, strong employment growth was also supported by a broadening of participation in the labour market, especially with a sharp increase in female participation in the workforce. there was also a reversal in the traditional pattern of net emigration, with many overseas - based irish people returning home and foreign nationals moving in response to the economic opportunities available in ireland. 2 / 4 bis central bankers'speeches in addition,

philip r lane : the african continental free trade area - creating fiscal space for jobs and economic diversification remarks by mr philip r lane, governor of the central bank of ireland, at the conference of african ministers of finance, planning and economic development, united nations economic commission for africa addis ababa, addis ababa, 14 may 2018. * * * i am delighted to be here today to address the fifty first session of the conference of african ministers of finance, planning and economic development. thank you dr songwe for extending this invitation to me. the theme for this year ’ s session – the african continental free trade area : creating fiscal space for jobs and economic diversification – comes in the wake of the historic decision in kigali earlier this year, when forty - four african heads of state and government signed up to a new continental free trade area ( cfta ). to quote dr songwe, the effective implementation of the cfta may have “ a game - changing impact on african economies ”. africa can potentially create a single market of 1. 2 billion people with over us $ 3 trillion in continental gdp. already, intra - african trade is much more focused on value - added products than africa ’ s trade with the rest of world. manufactured goods account for almost 42 percent of intra - african trade but only 15 percent of exports from africa to countries outside the continent, with extra - african trade dominated by commodities. africa is projected to see the largest increase in population of any continent in the coming thirty years : this presents both great opportunities and great challenges. in this context, an efficient, continent - wide single market can make a fundamental contribution in promoting inclusive economic growth across a more integrated continent. against this background, i want to share with you some of ireland ’ s experiences as a small country and member of a much larger regional single market and trading bloc – the european union ( eu ). membership of the eu has been a primary driver of our economic transformation over the last forty five years. of course, our experience is not directly applicable to the african context and the eu is much more than a free trade area, with extensive economic, social and political inter - linkages. nevertheless, i think some lessons from ireland can be useful in informing policy making in some of your countries and in maximising the benefit of the new continental free trade area. first, some history. ireland joined what was then called the european economic community in 1973. it was a much smaller community than it