Preventing the Future: Why was Ireland so poor for so long?

by Tom Garvin

Between the years of the mid thirties through to 1960, independent Ireland suffered from economic stagnation, and also went through a period of intense cultural and psychological repression. While external circumstances account for much of the stagnation - especially the depression of the thirties and the Second World War - Preventing the Future argues that the situation was aggravated by internal circumstances. The key domestic factor was the failure to extend higher and technical education and training to larger sections of the population. This derived from political stalemates in a small country which derived in turn from the power of the Catholic Church, the strength of the small-farm community, the ideological wish to preserve an older society and, later, gerontocratic tendencies in the political elites and in society as a whole. While economic growth did accelerate after 1960, the political stand-off over mass education resulted in large numbers of young people being denied preparation for life in the modern world and, arguably, denied Ireland a sufficient supply of trained labor and educated citizens. Ireland's Celtic Tiger of the nineties was in great part driven by a new and highly educated and technically trained workforce. The political stalemates of the forties and fifties delayed the initial, incomplete take-off until the sixties and resulted in the Tiger arriving nearly a generation later than it might have.

Genres: Ireland, History, Nonfiction

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 2004

About the author

Tom Christopher Garvin was an Irish political scientist and historian. He was Professor Emeritus of Politics at University College Dublin. He retired from lecturing duties in August 2008. He was an alumnus of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, DC.

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be fair, I only read the beginning and end of this, but basically if you'd like a neoliberal theory about why the Irish were too "backward" to succeed and why they should "accept" the fact that they have to become "Ireland Inc." to succeed in the world, then this book is for you.

From skimming about 15 books for the prospectus I wrote, the consensus on Irish people was that they were too stupid and controlled by the Catholic church to do anything until the 1960s. And even then, they started bombing people again because they're uncivilized savages, don't you know? If anyone thinks these stereotypes are over, you should watch Leap Year.

Okay. Don't. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

But I'm just sayin'.

[Diarmuid Angland · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting book, and written as it was just before the Celtic Tiger bubble burst may have shown that we weren’t free from a toxic deluded elite as we thought we were.

[Teamhair]

Fascinating analysis of the long struggle of the Irish state to modernise. An engaging read due to the clarity of Garvin's thinking and writing.