It could be said that Ireland carried out its own Brexit when it gained its freedom through the creation of the Irish Free State in 1922.
When the country set off on its own economic path the journey proved no less tortuous than the current travails of Britain having left the European Union.
Headlines at the time were muted in light of the civil war that was raging following the British withdrawal.
“No fanfare or celebrations as Irish Free State is born,” said one headline on the foundation of the Free State. “The occasion attracted only a small crowd outside [parliament], where a magnificent new tricolour flag, specially made, flew in the breeze.”
On Tuesday, Dublin will mark 100 years of independence, putting a cap on the island’s “year of centenaries”.
In the week leading up to the commemoration of the establishment of the Irish Free State, the country has been tuning into a TV documentary focused on the downfall of one of its most notorious businessmen.
Quinn Country is a blockbuster examination of the rise and fall of Sean Quinn, who made his name in the concrete and construction business before moving into insurance but his dreams were scuppered in 2008 by debt-laden investments in a now bust bank Anglo-Irish.
It is fitting that an economic boom-to-bust tale is currently the biggest hit on national TV — Ireland may be too small to be an economic model for the world but it has been a trailblazer in showing how independent, export-led countries can slump, recover and grow to thrive.
The first leaders of the Free State — a name that denoted the compromise between the Irish drive for a republic and the UK’s demands — were obsessed with the fear that the project would collapse in chaos.
William T Cosgrave, head of the new executive council, described December 6 as a “notable day when our country has definitely emerged from the bondage under which she has lived through a week of centuries”.
Historian Maurice Walsh, author of Bitter Freedom: Ireland in a Revolutionary World 1918-23, says Cosgrave and his colleagues were haunted by the thought the Irish would be seen as “as a people unable to govern themselves”.
“Indeed, there were already hints that the chaos of the civil war could lead to Ireland being regarded as a failed state, spiralling into such a calamitous state of collapse that Britain might even be able to justify reoccupation to restore order,” Mr Walsh wrote.
“In October 1922, a British journal remarked that ‘Ireland’s failure strengthens the cause of those who believe in strong imperial government rather than democracy.”
Today Ireland is as rich, or richer, than the UK by many yardsticks while a century ago the British economy was 88 per cent wealthier. The average household net worth in the UK was £172,000 in 2022 while the Irish figure was £165,980.
The OCED real household consumer spending index over the past 15 years now pegs Ireland at 112.46 while the UK is at 106.79.
A few months before the creation of the Free State, James Joyce published Ulysses, the novel that became the ultimate Irish book.
Critic Tom McCarthy points to the constant entrepreneurial scheming by its protagonist Leopold Bloom. The novel also describes England as the land of monetary self-sufficiency, whereas Ireland was a pawnshop economy always scraping to get by.
“The logic of accountancy has permeated the prose [of Ulysses],” writes Mr McCarthy.
The first government of the Free State was described as “the most conservative revolutionaries that ever put through a successful revolution”.
In 1924, it rammed through a 10 per cent cut in pensions to balance the books. Meanwhile, the republicans who took over in 1932 launched an economic war with the UK that triggered mass emigration and a self-reliant poverty that lasted through the 1950s.
Economist Kevin O’Rourke summed up the mantra as “Burn Everything British but Their Coal”.
Things improved in the 1960s until the boom-bust of the 1970s triggered another lost decade or more.
“Twice, in the 1950s and the 1980s, the case for the Republic of Ireland being considered a failed economic entity was a strong one,” said Mr O’Rourke and Cormac O Grada in another paper.
“The impact of a postcolonial, but self-imposed, trade dispute in the 1930s and semi-autarky imposed by the Second World War were severe, while that of the financial crisis of 2008 was more damaging in Ireland than anywhere else in Europe, Greece excepted.
“The impact of these five crises — four of them mainly or wholly self-inflicted — on economic activity and on emigration, long a sensitive marker of Irish economic malaise.”
But joining the EU offered a significant boost for the country. Speaking this week, Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said EU membership has been of inestimable benefit to the economy.
“Over the last 50 years, sharing our sovereignty with our European partners has helped to make us all safer, stronger and more prosperous.
“Ireland’s membership of this union has had an overwhelmingly positive impact across all dimensions of our society.
“For our part, Ireland has been proud to contribute strongly to the shaping of today’s European Union which we have come to see as our home.”
Economist David McWilliams says that Ireland’s ability to attract US investment both in the shape of large social media companies and exporting companies such as pharmaceuticals allows it to boost growth and benefit from being a globally open economy.
“Although Ireland might be aiming to become more European, we are doing so with American money,” he wrote earlier this year. “The Irish strategy can be summed up as talking European, walking American, sounding Irish.”
The Free State’s great failure was that Northern Ireland counties decided to stay in the UK.
There, too, the relative strength of the Dublin side of the border has been increasingly evident.
“Productivity in the two regions was broadly equivalent in 2000,” a report from Mr Martin’s government said this week. “By 2020, productivity per worker was approximately 40 per cent higher in Ireland compared to Northern Ireland.”
It said one of the key differences was that only two in five northern schoolchildren gained second- or third-level qualifications while 60 per cent in the Republic gained higher education.
“Our analysis points to the need to rapidly improve skills in Northern Ireland, particularly at the postsecondary level,” the report said.
Mr McWilliams, fresh from a recent bus trip from the Republic through Northern Ireland, also cited a different attitude to infrastructure and other public investment.
“You get to [Northern Ireland] and you then go back to the 1970s,” he said on his eponymous podcast last month.
“It's extraordinary. It's a time warp. What is happened is they have frozen spending on infrastructure where we have spent a huge amount.”
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
MATCH INFO
Schalke 0
Werder Bremen 1 (Bittencourt 32')
Man of the match Leonardo Bittencourt (Werder Bremen)
more from Janine di Giovanni
Ten tax points to be aware of in 2026
1. Domestic VAT refund amendments: request your refund within five years
If a business does not apply for the refund on time, they lose their credit.
2. E-invoicing in the UAE
Businesses should continue preparing for the implementation of e-invoicing in the UAE, with 2026 a preparation and transition period ahead of phased mandatory adoption.
3. More tax audits
Tax authorities are increasingly using data already available across multiple filings to identify audit risks.
4. More beneficial VAT and excise tax penalty regime
Tax disputes are expected to become more frequent and more structured, with clearer administrative objection and appeal processes. The UAE has adopted a new penalty regime for VAT and excise disputes, which now mirrors the penalty regime for corporate tax.
5. Greater emphasis on statutory audit
There is a greater need for the accuracy of financial statements. The International Financial Reporting Standards standards need to be strictly adhered to and, as a result, the quality of the audits will need to increase.
6. Further transfer pricing enforcement
Transfer pricing enforcement, which refers to the practice of establishing prices for internal transactions between related entities, is expected to broaden in scope. The UAE will shortly open the possibility to negotiate advance pricing agreements, or essentially rulings for transfer pricing purposes.
7. Limited time periods for audits
Recent amendments also introduce a default five-year limitation period for tax audits and assessments, subject to specific statutory exceptions. While the standard audit and assessment period is five years, this may be extended to up to 15 years in cases involving fraud or tax evasion.
8. Pillar 2 implementation
Many multinational groups will begin to feel the practical effect of the Domestic Minimum Top-Up Tax (DMTT), the UAE's implementation of the OECD’s global minimum tax under Pillar 2. While the rules apply for financial years starting on or after January 1, 2025, it is 2026 that marks the transition to an operational phase.
9. Reduced compliance obligations for imported goods and services
Businesses that apply the reverse-charge mechanism for VAT purposes in the UAE may benefit from reduced compliance obligations.
10. Substance and CbC reporting focus
Tax authorities are expected to continue strengthening the enforcement of economic substance and Country-by-Country (CbC) reporting frameworks. In the UAE, these regimes are increasingly being used as risk-assessment tools, providing tax authorities with a comprehensive view of multinational groups’ global footprints and enabling them to assess whether profits are aligned with real economic activity.
Contributed by Thomas Vanhee and Hend Rashwan, Aurifer
England squad
Moeen Ali, James Anderson, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Dominic Bess, James Bracey, Stuart Broad, Rory Burns, Jos Buttler, Zak Crawley, Sam Curran, Joe Denly, Ben Foakes, Lewis Gregory, Keaton Jennings, Dan Lawrence, Jack Leach, Saqib Mahmood, Craig Overton, Jamie Overton, Matthew Parkinson, Ollie Pope, Ollie Robinson, Joe Root, Dom Sibley, Ben Stokes, Olly Stone, Amar Virdi, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Ovo's tips to find extra heat
- Open your curtains when it’s sunny
- Keep your oven open after cooking
- Have a cuddle with pets and loved ones to help stay cosy
- Eat ginger but avoid chilli as it makes you sweat
- Put on extra layers
- Do a few star jumps
- Avoid alcohol
'Champions'
Director: Manuel Calvo
Stars: Yassir Al Saggaf and Fatima Al Banawi
Rating: 2/5
UK’s AI plan
- AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
- £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
- £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
- £250m to train new AI models
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20TV%204K%20(THIRD%20GENERATION)
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECPU%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Apple%20A15%20Bionic%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECapacity%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2064GB%2C%20Wi-Fi%20only%3B%20128GB%2C%20Wi-Fi%20%2B%20ethernet%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EConnectivity%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Wi-Fi%206%2C%20Bluetooth%205.0%2C%20ethernet%20(Wi-Fi%20%2B%20ethernet%20model%20only)%2C%20IR%20receiver%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EI%2FO%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20HDMI%2C%20ethernet%20(128GB%20model%20only)%3B%20Siri%20remote%20(charging%20via%20USB-C)%3B%20accessibility%20features%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EVideo%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20SDR%2FDolby%20Vision%2FHDR10%2B%20up%20to%202160p%20%40%2060fps%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPeripherals%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Compatible%20with%20HD%2FUHD%20TVs%20via%20HDMI%2C%20Bluetooth%20keyboards%2C%20AirPods%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPhoto%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20GIF%2C%20HEIF%2C%20JPEG%2C%20TIFF%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EColour%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Black%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EIn%20the%20box%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20TV%204K%2C%20Siri%20remote%2C%20power%20cord%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EPrice%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dh529%2C%20Wi-Fi%20only%3B%20Dh599%2C%20Wi-Fi%20%2B%20ethernet%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
How to join and use Abu Dhabi’s public libraries
• There are six libraries in Abu Dhabi emirate run by the Department of Culture and Tourism, including one in Al Ain and Al Dhafra.
• Libraries are free to visit and visitors can consult books, use online resources and study there. Most are open from 8am to 8pm on weekdays, closed on Fridays and have variable hours on Saturdays, except for Qasr Al Watan which is open from 10am to 8pm every day.
• In order to borrow books, visitors must join the service by providing a passport photograph, Emirates ID and a refundable deposit of Dh400. Members can borrow five books for three weeks, all of which are renewable up to two times online.
• If users do not wish to pay the fee, they can still use the library’s electronic resources for free by simply registering on the website. Once registered, a username and password is provided, allowing remote access.
• For more information visit the library network's website.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY%20PROFILE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3ESupy%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2021%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDani%20El-Zein%2C%20Yazeed%20bin%20Busayyis%2C%20Ibrahim%20Bou%20Ncoula%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EIndustry%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFood%20and%20beverage%2C%20tech%2C%20hospitality%20software%2C%20Saas%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunding%20size%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBootstrapped%20for%20six%20months%3B%20pre-seed%20round%20of%20%241.5%20million%3B%20seed%20round%20of%20%248%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EBeco%20Capital%2C%20Cotu%20Ventures%2C%20Valia%20Ventures%20and%20Global%20Ventures%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Abramovich London
A Kensington Palace Gardens house with 15 bedrooms is valued at more than £150 million.
A three-storey penthouse at Chelsea Waterfront bought for £22 million.
Steel company Evraz drops more than 10 per cent in trading after UK officials said it was potentially supplying the Russian military.
Sale of Chelsea Football Club is now impossible.
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
Guide to intelligent investing
Investing success often hinges on discipline and perspective. As markets fluctuate, remember these guiding principles:
- Stay invested: Time in the market, not timing the market, is critical to long-term gains.
- Rational thinking: Breathe and avoid emotional decision-making; let logic and planning guide your actions.
- Strategic patience: Understand why you’re investing and allow time for your strategies to unfold.
if you go
Stamp duty timeline
December 2014: Former UK finance minister George Osbourne reforms stamp duty, replacing the slab system with a blended rate scheme, with the top rate increasing to 12 per cent from 10 per cent:
Up to £125,000 - 0%; £125,000 to £250,000 – 2%; £250,000 to £925,000 – 5%; £925,000 to £1.5m: 10%; Over £1.5m – 12%
April 2016: New 3% surcharge applied to any buy-to-let properties or additional homes purchased.
July 2020: Rishi Sunak unveils SDLT holiday, with no tax to pay on the first £500,000, with buyers saving up to £15,000.
March 2021: Mr Sunak decides the fate of SDLT holiday at his March 3 budget, with expectations he will extend the perk unti June.
April 2021: 2% SDLT surcharge added to property transactions made by overseas buyers.
The Specs
Price, base Dh379,000
Engine 2.9-litre, twin-turbo V6
Gearbox eight-speed automatic
Power 503bhp
Torque 443Nm
On sale now
First Person
Richard Flanagan
Chatto & Windus
THE LOWDOWN
Photograph
Rating: 4/5
Produced by: Poetic License Motion Pictures; RSVP Movies
Director: Ritesh Batra
Cast: Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Sanya Malhotra, Farrukh Jaffar, Deepak Chauhan, Vijay Raaz
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
