Ireland And The Eu

Center: 
Dublin
Program(s): 
Dublin Summer - Irish General Studies
Discipline(s): 
Economics
Course code: 
EC 390
Terms offered: 
Summer
Credits: 
3
Language of instruction: 
English
Instructor: 
Séamus White
Description: 

A study of the evolution of the Irish economy and the impact of Ireland’s membership of the European Union (EU). The course explores the economic and political background to Ireland’s decision to join the EU, the main institutions and policies of the EU, and Ireland’s experience of EU membership. The reasons for Ireland’s economic boom in the 1990s, the current economic crisis, and Ireland’s future economic prospects are analyzed in the context of wider EU developments and challenges.

Learning outcomes: 

On completion of this course, students should be able to:

  1. Understand the political and economic background to Ireland’s application to join the EEC (now the EU)
  2. Describe the main institutions and policies of the EU
  3. Discuss how EU membership has changed Ireland
  4. Understand the reasons for Ireland’s economic boom in the 1990s
  5. Analyze Ireland’s economic crisis and challenges in a wider EU context
Method of presentation: 

Lectures, class discussions, documentaries, student presentations, and field visits.

Required work and form of assessment: 

Active class participation (including Irish and European news review): 20%; presentation: 20%; mid-term paper: 30%; and final exam: 30%.

  • News review: Using The Irish Times (www.irishtimes.com), RTE (www.rte.ie), The Economist (www.economist.com) or BBC (www.bbc.co.uk/news/world/europe/) as potential source material, students should be ready to review an Irish and a European news stories at the start of each class, from class 2. News stories can relate to current Irish or European economic or political issues.
  • Presentation: Students will profile an assigned EU country in a 15-minute PowerPoint or Prezi presentation.
  • Mid-term paper: Students will submit a typed paper of no more than 1,500 words on a specified topic.
  • Final exam: Students will answer 3 questions from a choice of 5 in a 2-hour closed-book exam in the final class.
content: 

Class 1:     Course introduction and a political and economic profile of Ireland today

  • Readings:        
  1. http://esri.ie/irish_economy/
  2. http://www.cso.ie/statistics/

Class 2:    Irish economic policy and performance from the 1920s to the 1980s and reasons for joining the EU

  • Readings:     
  1. O’Hagan, The Economy of Ireland, Ch 1 (pages 14 to 27)
  2. Laffan and O’Mahony, Ireland and the European Union, Ch 1

Class 3:    The EU – a history of European Integration

  • Readings:     
  1. Senior Nello, The European Union, Chs 1 and 2

Class 4:        The EU – key institutions

  • Readings:         
  1. Senior Nello, The European Union, Ch 3
  2. http://europa.eu/about-eu/institutions-bodies/index_en.htm

Class 5:        The EU – key policies: the Single Market and the Euro

  • Readings:         
  1. Senior Nello, The European Union, Ch 6
  2. http://europa.eu/pol/singl/index_en.htm
  3. http://europa.eu/pol/emu/index_en.htm

Class 6:        Ireland’s EU Experience and the Celtic Tiger years

  • Readings:        
  1. Laffan and O’Mahony, Ireland and the European Union, Ch 2
  2. Sweeney, Ireland’s Economic Success, Chapter 9

Class 7:        The Celtic Tiger years, continued

  • Readings:         
  1. Sweeney, Ireland’s Economic Success, Chapter 9
  2. O’Sullivan and Miller, What Did We Do Right?, Ch 2

Class 8:    Ireland’s economic crisis – The end of the domestic boom and the re-emergence of unemployment

  • Readings:     
  1. Kinsella and Leddin, Understanding Ireland’s Economic Crisis, Introduction and Ch 1

Class 9:        Ireland’s banking crisis and the Irish bank guarantee

  • Readings:     
  1. Kinsella and Leddin, Understanding Ireland’s Economic Crisis, Ch 3

Class 10:    Ireland’s deficit crisis, the IMF/EU bailout and the ongoing Eurozone crisis

  • Readings:     
  1. http://www.finfacts.ie/irishfinancenews/article_1021128.shtml
  2. http://www.ft.com/intl/indepth/euro-in-crisis

Class 11:    Ireland’s economic challenges and future prospects

  • Readings:     
  1. Kinsella and Leddin, Understanding Ireland’s Economic Crisis, Ch 8

Class 12:        FINAL EXAM

Required readings: 

Kinsella, Stephen, Understanding Ireland’s Economic Crisis: Prospects for Recovery, Blackhall Publishing, 2010

Laffan, B., and O’Mahony, J., Ireland and the European Union, Palgrave MacMillan, 2008

O’Hagan, John and Newman, Carol, The Economy of Ireland, Gill and McMillan, 2011

O’Sullivan, Michael and Miller, Rory, What Did We Do Right? Global Perspectives on Ireland’s Miracle, Blackhall Publishing, 2010

Senior Nello, Susan, The European Union, McGraw-Hill, 2009

Sweeney, Paul, Ireland’s Economic Success, New Island, 2008

Recommended readings: 

Couper, Matt, Who Really Runs Ireland? The Story of the Elite Who Led Ireland from Bust to Boom ... and Back Again, Penguin, 2009

McWilliams, David, Follow the Money, Gill & Macmillan, Dublin, 2009.

O'Grada, Cormac, The Irish Economy since Independence, Manchester University Press, Manchester, 1997.

O’Toole, Fintan, How Stupidity and Corruption Killed the Celtic Tiger, Faber and Faber, 2009

Ross, Shane, The Bankers: How the Banks Brought Ireland to Its Knees, Penguin, 2009

Other Resources: 

http://www.irishtimes.com

http://www.rte.ie/news/

http://www.economist.com/

http://www.eubusiness.com/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world/europe/

http://www.ft.com/home/europe

http://www.irisheconomy.ie/

http://www.esri.ie/

http://www.cso.ie/

http://www.idaireland.com

http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/