The Irish economy: Three strikes and you’re out?

We examine the three interlinked Irish crises : the competitiveness, fiscal and banking crises, showing how all three combined to lay a lethal trap for Ireland. Starting from a point of economic balance, a series of poor government decisions led to the country once dubbed the “Celtic tiger” become the second eurozone state after Greece to seek a bailout, with the EFSF/IMF intervening in late 2010.