IRELAND THE CELTIC TIGER

Section 1: The Celtic Tiger

QUESTION: Which nation is the world's biggest exporter of computer software?
Answers: a) The USA b) Japan c) Ireland?

Of course, the answer has to be Ireland... but if this question had not been asked at the start of a Linguapress on line Dossier on Ireland, would you have guessed the right answer? Maybe not!

Furthermore, if you had been asked the question five years ago, "Ireland" would certainly not have been the right answer. The story of Ireland's exploding high-tech industry is a very new one, and the growth of today's "Celtic Tiger" is one of the most surprising economic developments in modern Europe.

Ten years ago, Ireland was one of those distant regions on the fringes of Europe, a country that had much in common with other peripheral European regions like Greece, Portugal or the north of Scotland; it was a country reputed for its slow pace of life, its lack of economic development, high unemployment, and relative poverty. In 1992, the relative prosperity* of people in Ireland was only 54% of that of Americans.

Since 1994, the change in Ireland's fortunes has been remarkable; economic growth averaged 8% per year from 1994 to 2000 (far faster than any other European country), and unemployment fell from 16% of the workforce(one of the highest rates in the European Union) to 4% (one of the lowest).

Today, the Irish economy is booming, to the extent that this country of just 3.6 million inhabitants needs to encourage 200,000 immigrants to come to Ireland within the next five years, to take up all the jobs that are being created - many of them skilled and well-paid.

So how has this economic miracle been brought about?

In a few words, the answer is economic liberalism and low taxes.

As long ago as the 1960's, when "Ireland" for most people meant just the "Emerald Isle" on the Celtic fringe of Europe, the country sought to attract writers and creative artists, by offering them special low taxes. In those days however, when international transport was far more expensive than it is today, and also slower, few international businesses wanted to settle in a country that was far from the heart of Europe, and lacked a skilled workforce.

By the 1990's, things were changing, and the pace of change was getting faster; and with the arrival of cheap rapid international transport, the "information age" and above all the Internet, Ireland rapidly began to look like a very attractive place for investment. It had two other advantages as well; firstly it is nearer the USA than any other part of the European Union, and secondly people in Ireland speak the language of international business, i.e. English.

Lured by low taxes, low labour costs and a beautiful country, American companies began investing massively in Ireland from the beginning of the 1990's. Microsoft, Oracle, AOL and dozens more set up large plants and their European call centres in Ireland; indeed, since 1990, this small country has received about a third of all American electronics investment in the whole of the European Union. Following the example, large European companies - such as banks, computer companies, service companies - have moved some of their operations to Ireland, mostly to Dublin, making Ireland the fastest-growing economy in Europe.

Today, the Irish economy is still the fastest growing in Europe; GNP (Gross National Product) grew by 8% in the year 2000, and consumption grew even faster - by 8.5% (compared with about +3% in Britain, France or Germany). By 1999, Ireland's GNP per head had become the highest in the European Union, apart from Luxembourg and Denmark .... an incredible change in situation compared to ten years earlier!

Thanks to information superhighways, Ireland's big disadvantage - distance from the rest of Europe - has been abolished. There are plenty of other regions of Europe that are now looking enviously at its achievements!

As for Dublin it is the fastest growing capital city in Europe; ten years ago, it was a fairly relaxed city; today, though it still has much of the easy-going atmosphere of a provincial city, it has become one of the main cosmopolitan cities of Europe, and also one of the youngest.

Naturally, all this has not come without problems; the vast influx of capital and people has put enormous pressures on the country's infrastructures, particularly in Dublin. In spite of a massive house-building programme, there are still not enough houses in the Dublin area, and consequently the cost of housing for purchase or for rent has skyrocketed. This has led to inflation - currently at 5.5% - and to a series of strikes, notably in the public sector, as employees have demanded salary increases to keep up with the rising cost of living. Furthermore, the shortage of skilled employees is also now starting to put a brake on expansion in some sectors.

Even so, in spite of warnings, there are no signs of any major let-up in the Irish economic boom. In spite of the serious problems in the high tech sector in the USA in 2000, Ireland's economic indicators were better in 2000 than had been anticipated, and there is no sign of a recession. After centuries of existence on the fringe of Europe, Ireland is now finding a new role, at the centre. The Celtic Tiger looks set to keep roaring for many years to come.

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* Economists measure the relative prosperity of countries on a scale called PPP - Purchasing Power Parity, a system which relates income to the cost of living - in which the USA is always 100. In 1992, Ireland was 54, Portugal 41.5, and Greece 35. Britain, Belgium, Holland, Austria, Sweden and Italy were between 70 and 80; Denmark, Germany, France and Luxembourg were higher.

Section 2

THE CULTURE OF IRELAND

People have lived in Ireland for over 7,000 years.

In prehistoric times, Stone Age people moved slowly westwards across Europe from Asia Minor, reaching first Great Britain, and then eventually Ireland, where they established settlements. Then, during the 6th-4th centuries B.C., invaders arrived via Britain and by sea: the Celts. These dark-skinned people from Central Europe pushed their way westwards, establishing themselves from Gaul to Britain and Ireland, which was known as "Ierne" by the Ancient Greeks.

Though the Celts did not unify Ireland as a single nation, they did manage to unite the island with a single language and a single culture; and since that time, Ireland has maintained its own a cultural identity within the broader framework of the culture of the British Isles.

During the time of the Roman Empire, the Celts were pushed to the extreme west of Europe, particularly to Britanny and to the western parts of the British Isles; and since the Romans never tried to extend their civilisation west of Great Britain, it was in Ireland that Celtic culture survived most strongly.

Nevertheless, though Celtic culture has remained a major force in Ireland ever since, it is just one among several strands that make up the cultural heritage of modern Ireland. Just like the rest of the British Isles, Ireland was subject to invasions and incursions in the course of the last two millennia, each of which has left its mark. The Vikings settled along the Irish coast, just as they did in England, bringing their culture to the country, and establishing cities including Dublin and Cork. Then, in the Middle Ages, Ireland came under the control of the Anglo-Normans.

Although Gaelic continued to be the main language spoken by the people of Ireland, the Anglo-Norman ruling class introduced first French, then increasingly English culture to the island. Also, in the course of the centuries, emigration from Great Britain to Ireland was often encouraged, in order to make sure that Ireland remained firmly attached to the English crown.

This was not always an easy task. Until the sixteenth century, Celtic culture and the Gaelic language remained predominant in Ireland, and the descendents of the original Anglo-Norman settlers began speaking Gaelic themselves. It was not until after the Reformation in the 16th century, that English culture largely replaced Celtic culture, as a result of the new geo-political situation that arose once Europe was divided into blocs of Catholic nations and Protestant ones.

While England became a Protestant nation, Ireland remained essentially Catholic. This led to a new wave of immigration from England, consisting of Catholics fleeing to avoid persecution in England, and English and Scottish Protestants, sent over in large numbers to establish a strong and permanent Protestant population on the island.

By 1603, the whole of Ireland was under the control of the English crown, and the English language, and English culture, were firmly established as the language of the cities and the ruling classes. The Irish capital, Dublin, became a firmly Protestant city, attracting an increasing number of immigrants from England, and even (in 1685) a wave of Protestant Huguenots fleeing persecution in France.

Thus, for most of the last four centuries, Ireland has remained a bilingual and multicultural nation, where the English and Gaelic languages, and Celtic and English, and Protestant and Catholic, cultures have existed side by side, and frequently together, building up the rich cultural heritage that characterises modern Ireland.

In these last four centuries, Irish writers have made a huge contribution to English literature. Jonathan Swift, the author of Gulliver's Travels, was Irish, as were other famous writers such as Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, and of course James Joyce. Yet even though English is, and will doubtless remain, the dominant language of culture and education in modern Ireland, the Celtic traditions and Gaelic language are very much alive.

Since Ireland became an independent nation in 1921, the position of the Gaelic language has been strongly reinforced. Many modern Irish writers write in English and Gaelic, and Gaelic figures among the compulsory subjects in schools throughout the Irish Republic. There are also Gaelic papers and magazines, and a Gaelic television channel.

In international terms however, it is the English-speaking culture of Ireland that is most important. Among the major players in contemporary "English" culture, Irish musicians and writers feature prominently, and probably more than one would expect from a nation of less than 4 million inhabitants. In music, Irish bands from U2 to the Corrs and current top boyband Westlife are among the biggest names of recent years. In literature, writers like Irish expatriate Frank McCourt (Angela's Ashes), Bernard MacLaverty and Roddy Doyle are among the major contemporary writers in the English language.

Ultimately, English remains the principal language of Ireland, and Irish lifestyles remain to this day fairly similar to those in the rest of the British Isles; to a large degree, modern Irish culture is an integral - and extremely rich - part of the culture of the British Isles as a whole.

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Section 3:

THE STORY OF GUINNESS

Mention the name "Ireland" anywhere in Europe, ask people what they associate with the country, and one of the answers that is sure to come up is "Guinness".

Perhaps this dark beer is not the single product with which Ireland ought to be most popularly associated, but that is not the point. The fact is that Guinness is the product and the name that has taken the flavour of Ireland all over the world, even more so perhaps than whisky has done for Scotland.

The story of Guinness goes back to the year 1759, when a young Irish brewer called Arthur Guinness bought the small St. James's Gate brewery in Dublin, which had formerly belonged to a French Huguenot brewer Paul Espinasse.

At first Guinness brewed ordinary ale, in the same manner as most other breweries in the British Isles; but before long, on a visit to London, he came across a popular new type of beer that was being brewed, called "porter". It was a much darker beer, produced by adding a small amount of unmalted roasted barley to the brew.

Guinness brought the recipe back with him to Ireland, perfected it in his own way, and began specialising in this new drink. As in London, porter was so successful in Dublin, that Guinness soon gave up making ale, and concentrated solely on his new product.

Before long, Guinness's "stout" had become popular throughout Ireland, and the brewery was beginning to export the product to other parts of Britain.

By the time Arthur Guinness died in 1803, Guinness was already being shipped to the West Indies, and buyers were coming to the Guinness brewery in Dublin, in order to take consignments for delivery all over the British Empire.

By 1833 Arthur Guinness II, the founder's son, had built the Dublin brewery up into the biggest in Ireland, and within thirty years it had further expanded to become the biggest brewery in the world.

The expansion continued throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries; and in 1936, Guinness opened its first overseas brewery, at Park Royal in London.

That was the first step in the establishment of a worldwide empire. Today Guinness is brewed in 51 different countries, and sold in over 150, and the Guinness Company is one of the world's largest drinks companies, producing a range of other drinks too.

As for "Guinness" itself, it has been brewed in the same manner since its invention, using just four natural ingredients and nothing else; water, barley, hops and yeast. However, it is not quite a standardized product; to take account of different situations and different markets, Guinness is produced with several different degrees of alcohol content.

GUINNESS and PUBS

In Ireland, as in England, the pub is traditionally the heart of community life. Pubs, of course, come in all shapes and sizes, from large modern city pubs, to small old rural pubs. Yet there is one thing that is common to virtually all the pubs in the British Isles; they all sell Guinness! There is probably no other beer that can claim such wide distribution.

In Ireland itself, some 50% of all the pints of beer drunk in pubs are Guinness. In Great Britain, the figure is certainly much lower; but people know that wherever they go, they will be able to order a Guinness, usually draught.

Guinness's success is partly due to the product itself, partly due to good commercial policy. In Britain, most pubs traditionally belonged to breweries, which sold only their own beers. As a result, England and Scotland still have a large number of local brands of beer, and pubs in different parts of the country sell different products.

Guinness took a different line; as its product was different from ordinary "bitter ales", the Guinness company was able to sell its beers to pubs all over Britain, creating the first national brand of beer in the British Isles.

Yet it is with Irish pubs that Guinness is most closely associated. Thanks to the international popularity of Guinness, "Irish Pubs", all selling Guinness, have opened up in towns and cities all round the world - while "English Pubs" have tended to spring up only in towns and cities frequented by British tourists, or having an expatriate British community.

And in a world where the market for consumer goods in increasingly dominated by global brands, the Irish can be very thankful for the pioneering spirit of Arthur Guinness. However attractive and agreeable traditional Irish pubs may be, it is certainly thanks to the initiatives of Arthur Guinness and his descendents that they have become the internationally famed institutions that they are today!

Section 4

IRELAND AND ITS FLAG :

The name Ireland comes from the ancient name Ierne (Hibernia in Latin). In the Middle Ages, the name which had become Eire was linked to the Anglo-Saxon word "land", to form Eireland, or Ireland.

The Irish "tricolor" flag dates from the year 1848, and was inspired by the revolutionary French flag.

Yet although it is hated by many Protestants in Northern Ireland, it is really a flag for all the people of Ireland.

The green colour represents the old nation of Ireland, with its Gaelic and Anglo-Norman heritage; the white in the middle stands for peace; and the orange is the colour of Ireland's Protestant community, whose historic hero was William of Orange, the Protestant Dutchman who became king of England after the Catholic James II was deposed.

MARY MCALEESE Ireland's President.

For many years, Ireland had the reputation of being a country in which women did not enjoy modern rights.

Heavily influenced by its strong Catholic heritage, Ireland was, until recently, a country where divorce was disapproved of and abortion illegal; things have moved rapidly forward in the last twenty years, and women in today's Ireland are as liberated as in other parts of Europe. In some ways even, it would seem that they are more liberated.

Since 1990, Ireland's president has been a woman - firstly Mary Robinson, now Mary McAleese; and though the president plays a non-legislative function (it is the Taoiseach, or Prime Minister, who is the head of government), she is an extremely important person within Ireland, and someone who plays a major representative role for Ireland in international affairs.

Yet although Mary McAleese is President of the Republic of Ireland, she actually comes from Ulster, having been born and brought up in Belfast.

Indeed, until being elected President of the Irish Republic, Mary McAleese was as active in public life in Northern Ireland - politically a part of the United Kingdom - as in the Irish Republic.

A specialist in law, before being elected President she worked for ten years as Professor of Criminal Law at Trinity College, Dublin - Ireland's most prestigious university - and for two years as a current affairs journalist and presenter with Irish State Television; but then for ten years, from 1987 to 1997, she returned to Belfast, as director of the Institute of Professional Legal Studies at Queen's University.

For many Catholics in Northern Ireland, Mary McAleese is a perfect symbol of a future united Ireland; and indeed, all her life she has been actively involved in efforts to bring peace and social justice to the troubled province.

UNITED IRELAND?

It will come one day, that is sure - and who knows, it might come sooner than expected. But for the time being, Ireland remains divided, and "Northern Ireland", also known as Ulster, remains an integral part of the United Kingdom, by the majority choice of its people.

For three years now, since the signing in April 1998 of the "Good Friday Agreement", Northern Ireland has lived almost normally, and in peace like most other parts of Europe.

By signing the Agreement, the governments of Britain and Ireland accepted that the future of Northern Ireland will be determined by the democratically expressed will of the people. The Republic of Ireland also agreed to drop its constitutional claim to Northern Ireland - a claim which had previously been a major thorn in the flesh of Ulster's unionists.

From now on, the British and Irish governments share a common view on Northern Ireland, and have agreed on a new political structure for the province. Northern Ireland now has its own national Assembly, in which Unionists (who want to maintain the union with Great Britain) and Republicans (who want a united Ireland) can work side by side. The new Assembly has not always functioned properly, on account of the high degree of antagonism between some Unionists and the representatives of Sinn Fein, the main Republican party; yet it exists.

There is also a new North-South Ministerial Council, in which the Irish government and the Northern Ireland administration work together on issues of importance for the whole of Ireland; and finally there are new Anglo-Irish councils, at government level, which meet regularly to discuss important issues for Ireland.

But what of the future?

There is one thing that is abundantly clear, and that is that only a tiny fraction of the people in Ulster want a return to the past. As the province becomes more and more used to living in peace, the men of violence have less and less support in the community. Nevertheless, even though terrorist groups like the "Real IRA", which refused the Good Friday Agreement, are very small and very extreme, they still have the capacity to kill and to bomb and - perhaps more seriously - to maintain a certain level of tension and animosity in Northern Ireland.

In times of peace to come, one can hope that the antagonisms of the past will slowly die a natural death. The two parts of Ireland will inevitably come closer together again once the same currency, the Euro, is used on both sides of the border (whenever that may be); and in economic terms, the spectacular growth in the Irish economy in recent years has meant that there is no longer a prosperity gap between the North and the South.

Religion, the catalyst of political antagonism in the past, is certain to be a less emotive issue in tomorrow's Ireland, just as it is no longer an major issue in other parts of Europe; and without this catalyst, political passions must inevitably be calmed.

But perhaps, in the end, the speed at which the "Northern Ireland Problem" disappears may be determined by the rate at which European unity moves forward, and the extent to which Britain participates in this unifying process.

When, almost fifty years ago, the founding fathers of what is now the European Union first put forward their plans for a community of states, they believed - even if they did not say - that they were taking the first step down a long road to full economic and political union.

It may take another fifty years to come; but if there is one part of Europe in which the realisation of this ideal should put an end to the senseless political and ideological conflicts of the past, it is Ireland.

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WORDS

achievement: success - ale: beer - animosity: hostility - anticipate: forecast - arise: appear - barley: a type of cereal - border: frontier - brand: name, type -brewer: maker of beer - broad: wide - call centre: telephone information centre - depose: forced to stop being king -draught (pronounced draft): directly from a barrel - Dutchman - person from the Netherlands - emotive: passionate - flavour: taste, savour - flee: run away from - fringe: outer edge - gap: difference - hops:Fr: "houblon", Ger: "Hopfen" - income: the money people receive - influx: inward movement, arrival - lured: attracted - Middle Ages: mediaeval period - pace: speed - plant; factory, installation - predominant: most important - put a brake on: restrict - put forward: present - rate: level, speed - settlement: permanent place to live - skilled: qualified - sought (to seek): try to - strand: thread, line - strike: when workers refuse to work - tiny: very small - thorn in the flesh: problem, something that is not at all appreciated - will: wish, desire - workforce: people in work or wanting to work -

Section 5

All You Need is Love

Word guide below

A Celtic Fairy Story by Leanne Meyer

Angela's Ashes, the autobiographical novel by Irish writer Frank McCourt, has been a runaway bestseller; McCourt told of the terrible misery and suffering of his childhood in the poor district of Limerick; but was it really as bad as that? Leanne Meyer, who lives in Ireland, brings the true story of another large Irish family, and how they coped with life.

The first thing you notice is the fire. And then you realise that this has more to do with the family than the outside temperature. Their father used to stoke the fire each morning to warm them up before school, and this was also where he would toast the bread which would blacken their faces and taste like charcoal.

Sadly, their father died a year ago. But as we speak "Mammy", at sixty-five, is walking to town to buy the goodies her boys need for the weekend.

What makes their mother remarkable is that she bore six boys, four of whom still live at home, along with 12 girls, two of whom are also still at home. Yes, Mammy was pregnant for 18 years of her life and almost produced a child a year. All the babies arrived naturally with the smallest weighing a good seven pounds and Owen, the biggest, registering a whopping 13 pounds on the scales.

After the birth of Susie (the youngest) however, Mammy moved out of the marital bed and into the "girls room." As committed Catholics, who ensured that their family went to confession every Saturday and mass each Sunday, this was the right and only way.

All eighteen children still live in Waterford, Ireland. Not one child has been lost. Twelve of them have their own families, making Mammy a grandmother forty-eight times over, with three great grandchildren as well. One daughter-in-law claimed that she would break Mammy's record. Not surprisingly she gave up after the birth of her tenth child.

Mammy on the other hand revelled in raising her brood with not even the assistance of a disposable nappy. Meals were cooked in a pot "big enough to bath a baby in", using all four plates on the cooker. The twelvegirls shared a room and the six boys shared another. Each room had a double bed, where on average six kids slept. If you were small enough you slept in the chest of drawers which has only recently been sold. Otherwise you had to find your own spot somewhere between the bed and the chest. When it came to personal hygiene, you just made sure that you got into the bath or sink (depending on your size) first.

Understanding the scale of what it means to have twenty people in the house, had to lead to the question, "How did your father afford it?"

This stops the conversation immediately.

"Daddy was a block layer (a builder) which was a very good job in those days."

They truly believe that they were blessed; that they did not want for anything. Yet they tell stories that fellow countrymen have written books about, lamenting the conditions in which they grew up.

Firstly there was the food. They reminisce about how their father used to make the most delicious chicken soup. But how all that changed when Carole found the rabbit carcasses in the shed. Their father also later admitted to using sweetbreads when no rabbit could be found. "You know testicles form part of sweetbreads." Then gales of laughter are the only response to what some would consider a gourmet horror.

Then there had to be the pig's head. These girls, however, are quite practical about how pigs tongue really tastes like corned beef, and then proceed to tease Susie because their father used to give her cooked pigs tails to suck on as a baby, and she apparently "loved it."

Even in midwinter when building work was scarce and there often wasn't enough money for electricity, they spent time in the upstairs room telling ghost stories, which in retrospect, they point out is quite silly as they would all be terrified but could not switch the lights on. When sleep came there was always a fight about who would sleep in the middle, as this was the warmest place to be.

The only thing the children say they missed while growing up was being Mammy or Daddy's "pet." There was never space for one child to be treated differently from another; but that, no doubt, was actually the key to this abundant family's remarkable coherence..

All this joy in living may sound the stuff of fairy tales; but this is the story of a real family that is solidly anchored in reality, with moments of drama and pain.

Often the children missed out on school trips as there was not enough money to pay for the outing. In fact, daughter Carole was once so keen to go on a trip that she encouraged her teacher to come and speak to her parents. Proud Mammy told the teacher that Carole was ill and would not be able to attend; but. unfortunately for Mammy, Carole was listening upstairs and shouted down that she was not sick. She went on that trip and still remembers it as "one of the best days of my life."

Susie is still recovering from the loss of her fiancé at sea. Carole can recall the horrors of the convent she was sent to when, unmarried, she announced that she was expecting a baby. Yet it seems that it is all a question of attitude and approach to life. It this family, it was all a matter of love, with no room for self-indulgence and self-encompassing privacy. All you need is love.

WORDS

attend: participate - blessed: looked on favourably by God - brood: young ones - charcoal: partly burned wood - committed: devout - cope with: deal with, succeed in - gale: storm - goodies: nice things to eat - gourmet horror: something inedible - nappy: cloth worn by young babies who are not yet toilet-trained - pet: favourite -plates: hotplates, burners - pregnant: expecting a baby - reminisceabout: recall - revel in: really love - runaway: very big - scales: apparatus for measuring weight - self encompassing privacy: the desire of people to have their own personal space. self indulgence: egocentric behaviour - stoke: disturb - sweetbreads: the pancreas and thymus - tease: mock - want for: lack - whopping: very big

TEACHERS' SECTION:

a) Introduction

1) * Brainstorming: Before starting to study this dossier, write the word Ireland on the board, and have students shout out any words, names or statements that they associate with this country. Collect the answers in thematic categories.

What is the result? Probably a lot of words concerning Irish culture, Irish music, Ireland as a holiday destination, perhaps Irish catholicisim, the Northern Ireland problem, the IRA, and so on. But unless your students have taken a sneak preview of the dossier, they are unlikely to mention high technology.

Next, ask students if they understand the reasons for the title of the Dossier, Ireland, the Celtic Tiger?

The phrase is modelled on the phrase "Asian Tigers" or "Asian tiger economies", countries such as Korea and Taiwan whose economies developed at a tremendous pace in the 1980's and early 90's.

b) Text study stage

2) * Comprehension questions Sections 1-4
1. In what ways has Ireland’s booming economy led to problems?
2. What factors are behind the boom in Ireland’s economy?
3. Why are American high tech companies particularly attracted to Ireland?
4. Why have there been a lot of strikes in Ireland recently?
5. Who was Paul Espinasse?
6 Who were the “Celts”?
7. Why did the English encourage emigration to Ireland in the 16th and 17th centuries?
8. What is the position of the English language in Ireland today?
9. Why is Mary McAleese a “perfect symbol of a future united Ireland”?
10. How does Europe perhaps hold the key to an ultimate solution of the conflict in Northern Ireland?

3) Reusing information from Section 1. Complete these sentences in your own words, so that they faithfully reflect information provided in the article.

1. Ireland’s high tech industry
2. Since 1994, Ireland has
3. 200,00 immigrants
4. Writers and artists
5. The Internet has
6. Microsoft is one
7. Luxembourg and Denmark
8. Today’s Dubliners
9. In some sectors, expansion

4) * Reading for information: Have students read sections 1 and 2 of the dossier, and then write down six sentences:

Four sentences referring to facts about Ireland that they have learned from reading these pages; two others referring to points they already knew. It is to be hoped that every reader will find at least two bits of information about Ireland that he or she already knew - for example Ireland is an island on the western edge of Europe / Guinness is the most famous Irish beer, etc.

5) * Structural analysis: the main article (Section 1) divides quite clearly into six sections. have students read the article carefully, and decide where the breaks between the sections occur. Then have them decide on a suitable sub-heading for each section.

Here is the correct breakdown of the article, with some possible sub-heading for each:

1. paras 1-3: Introduction / Surprising Ireland

2. paras 4-7: Changing Ireland

3. paras 8-11: the lure of Ireland / Economic liberalism / Why they came

4. Paras 12 & 13: The fastest growing economy in Europe / Ireland leads

5. para 14 & 15: Capital problems / Dublin's problems.

6. para 16. Bright future / Still going strong.

6) * Alternative to exercise 5: Write up the following six of the sub-headings indicated above:

Why they came / Capital problems / Surprising Ireland / Bright future / Changing Ireland / Ireland leads.

Ask students to attach each heading to a section of the article, and thus arrange them in order.

Subsequently, have them expand each of these titles to about 25 - 40 words, in order to produce a synopsis of the article in 150 - 250 words.

7) * Economic vocabulary: have students pick out all the economic vocabulary and terms in Section 1, then reuse a number of the terms in entirely different circumstances.Exporter, high-tech industry, growth, economic development, unemployment, averaged, workforce etc.

8) * The Culture of Ireland;worksheet
This section of the dossier contains a lot of factual information: have students read it, and then write down:

Three different peoples who have settled in Ireland.

The people who first established a city at Dublin.

The predominant culture in Ireland in the 15th century.

The reason why the English were frightened of Irish Catholicism in the 17th century.

The origins of Ireland's Protestants.

The main language of culture in Ireland today.

The event which led to a major reinforcement of the position of Gaelic culture and language in Ireland.

A famous Irish writer who does not live in Ireland.

9) * Oral expression: pair work: Divide your class into pairs (or groups of three), and have each pair/group imagine a radio interview between a reporter from Radio Spectrum, and two students from Ireland. The reporter should ask the students about their personal feelings about modern Ireland, their personal views on Ireland's position in Europe today, and their hopes for the future.

10) * Creative writing: Either Promoting Dublin: Have students write an imaginary promotional brochure for the city of Dublin, designed to attract qualified young people to the city. Or Letter from Dublin - Students should imagine that they have gone to Dublin to find a job, and have found one either in a call centre or in a high tech company. Write a letter, in English, to a friend back home.

11) * Extracting information: For homework, have students re-read this dossier, and then summarise it in no more than 200 words, or ten sentences. This is not an easy task - but it is one that will force students to look for the major points in the dossier.

ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE

12) * Introduction: A number of words in the story may need explanation: bore, daughter-in-law, sink, fellow countrymen (meaning compatriots), outing, to attend, to recover and a convent (being an institution for, or run by, Catholic nuns).

13) * Syntax exercise: relatives. Replace the missing relative -or nominal relative - pronouns (that, which, who, whom, what, how) in the following sentences. These sentences are very indirectly modeled on examples in the article.

1. My brother is a computer expert, _________ is a well paid job.
2. I told them about __________ we found our way home again.
3. Many Irish writers are among the great names of ________ is known as “English” literature.
4. They could never agree about ________ would use the bathroom first.
5. __________ I can’t understand is ________ he made chicken soup using rabbits.
6. I have four brothers, one of _________ is in the navy.
7. This is an exercise ________ is not very easy.
8. I told them _________ I thought about their ridiculous proposals.
9. Read the instructions if you want to know _________ to do.

14) * Listening comprehension After students have read through this article once in class, have them put away the written document, then read the text to them. Finally have them answer the following questions orally, or in writing:

1. How old was Mammy when she spoke to the writer?

2. How many children did she have?

3. How many grandchildren does she have?

4. How many sons does she have?

5. Who is the youngest child?

6. How heavy was the heaviest baby at birth?

7. What town does Mammy live in?

8. How big was Mammy's cooking pot?

9. How many bedrooms did the children have?

10. Where did the smallest kids sleep?

11. What was the father's profession?

12. How do the children feel about their childhood?

13. What did their father make his so-called "chicken soup" with?

14. What did Susie do with pigs' tails?

15. Why did the girls tell ghost stories in the dark sometimes?

16. Why did they fight after telling ghost stories in the dark?

17. What did the children miss most about their childhood?

18. What else did they regret?

19. Why did Carole ask her schoolteacher to talk to her Mammy?

20. What did Mammy tell the schoolteacher?

21. Why was Carole sent to a convent?

22. What tragedy affected Susie's life?

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