Once the poster child for the European Union, and regularly lauded as the most globalized economy in the world, Ireland has suffered an economic free-fall the last few years that has exposed the vulnerabilities of a relatively small market in the seas of a global recession.
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Ireland’s unemployment rate has tripled in the last three years, nearing 13 percent. The housing bubble that fueled remarkable growth has burst. Ireland’s banks have been bailed out and, in the case of Anglo-Irish Bank, which has a large presence in Boston, nationalized.
Still....
The challenges now, Billy Kelleher, the Irish government’s minister for trade and commerce, said, are finding more capital and expanding the markets for Irish companies already in the US, especially life sciences and pharmaceuticals, while in the long term attracting more US companies, especially knowledge-based ones, to set up in Ireland. Partnering with American universities is high on the list....
Yeah, globalism is great, ain't it, kids?
Aidan Browne is an Irish-born lawyer with the Boston firm Sullivan & Worcester who has helped Irish companies get established in the United States and helped American companies that have set up operations in Ireland. He said the biggest challenges for Irish companies entering US markets are understanding the complexities of those markets and getting capital to grow.
“The requirements of US venture capital and private equity can pose significant challenges for foreign companies, including Irish companies,’’ Browne said. “There are cultural, political, and business practice nuances to be understood.’’
He said investment funds with Irish entrepreneurs, including Fountain Healthcare Partners, Atlantic Bridge, and Delta Partners, have been created in response to those challenges and bode well for the future.
Browne is as bullish as Kelleher, pointing to Ireland’s recent success in attracting companies like Google Inc. and Facebook to open offices there, and its success in getting Massachusetts stalwarts such as EMC Corp., Boston Scientific Corp., State Street Corp., Fidelity Investments, and Gillette, to maintain a presence in Ireland....
If globalism is so great why has it failed for so many people?
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