Hailing with an Invisible Hand: A ‘Cosy’ Political Dispute amid the Rise of Neoliberal Politics in Modern Ireland

Abstract

As Christmas 2000 Approached In Dublin There Appeared Little prospect that its citizens would avoid the annual rigmarole associated with securing a safe passage home after an evening out. Anaesthetized by now to forecasts of an integrated transport system the envy of Europe, this was a public that had become weary. As for getting a taxi home, there are few it seems who by now could not recount to you their own little horror story: two-hour vigils at a taxi rank in the rain had become firmly ensconced within the mythology of the Celtic Tiger. And yet, as with so many other anecdotes of this period, they would have to vie for our attention in a conversation space crowded with incredulous descriptions of Dublin's morning gridlock, its escalating house prices or political and financial embezzlement.

Horses for Courses? The Political Discourse of Globalisation and European Integration in the UK and Ireland

“…This marked the negotiation of the first of a series of 'social partnership' agreements on macro-economic policy between government and key economic and social interests in order to combat Ireland's spiralling unemployment, inflation and national debt. As Taylor (2002) notes, the narrative of crisis was crucial in forging this new policy paradigm. As the Fianna Fa´il leader, Charles Haughey, told the Da´il in 1986: 'The present crisis is different in its nature from anything that we have ever witnessed before in this country.…”

Welfare Regimes, Housing and Homelessness in the Republic of Ireland

“…Although some commentators have argued that Ireland has followed a neoliberal path over the past decade or so (Allen 2000;Kirby 2002, Taylor 2002, others, particularly in relation to welfare, have pointed to two key polices that confound this description. First is the commitment to maintaining the real value of welfare payments, and second the use of active labour market policies (O'Riain and O'Connell 2000).…”

Globalisation and Models of State: Debates and Evidence from Ireland

“…72 While, over time, programmes have become more progression oriented and linked to participation obligations, there is still scant evidence of the level of transformational institutional reform of either employment serices or income support offices experienced across most OECD countries. 74 This stronger style of commodification, 'systematic engagement', was introduced in the 1997 National Employment Action Plan (NEAP), a window of opportunity occasioned by the European Employment Strategy Open Method of Co-ordination, which required each national government to enter into a national policy dialogue and produce a National Employment Action Plan to promote activation and other policy.…”