What Part off ireland...?

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Priscilla Duck

Ireland has one of the highest GDP per capita rates in the world and is not poor by most economic measures. However, there is a widening gap between rich and poor, as in most developed countries, so there are of course pockets of disadvantage throughout the country. In some regions this equates to large numbers of families living on council estates who typically have low employment and income rates and who may be trapped in a poverty cycle. In other regions it may be more similar to 'relative poverty', i.e. families may appear poor because of the relative wealth of their neighbours. As a country, Ireland is rich. On the level of the individual, it has one of the highest rates of child poverty in Europe. There is no simple answer to your question, it depends on which measures you take and which segments of society you examine.

Northern Ireland has also suffered social disadvantage over the years and has not had as strong an economy as the Republic, surviving mainly on subsidies, but this too is changing and NI is attracting more investment every year as it's political situation has stabilised. It would not have as high rates of GDP as the Republic, so technically would be poorer. I don't know as much about poverty levels in NI, so can't comment on social disadvantage there.

Michelle

Your friend's talking rubbish. There may be some parts of the Republic that are more wealthy, but then the same goes for the south. Over the last few years there has been an economic boom in many parts of the south, bringing a lot of capital into the country, so it is most definitely not 'poor'.

Loz H

No it's not true. If anything Eire is richer than N. Ireland.

Wise Guy

Up until recently the Republic of Ireland's economy was in better shape than most of Eu ropes. The cost of living in southern Ireland is higher than the UK or at least it was when i went.

Chelsea No.1

no its well richh

PrEgNaNt WiTh #2! KaTiE 2 iN MaY

i agree i think your friend it talking rubbish.....lol

Orla C

First of all, there is no such place as Southern Ireland. The name of the part that is not part of the UK is the Republic of Ireland.

The Republic was poor, but it's not anymore. Northern Ireland is also quite rich.

cybermac441

Ireland is actually quite poor. We are one of the top ten debtor nations on earth! Ireland is the size of Indiana!
Our debts outsize our assets. We are in worse shape than Iceland.
Our wages and standard of living are still good but everyone is in debt.
Jobs are vanishing fast. My brother worked for Pfizer for 22years. He has a wife and kids and a mortgage. He's got about 2 months left before he gets laid off.
The irish wrote their own disaster this time. They borrowed hundreds of thousands of Euro to buy houses on an eighth of an acre. Some of these houses were going for 400,000 Euro before they were built!
Now, as my brother says you can buy one and get one free!
These poor saps who bought big houses for a fortune 2 years ago now have lost half their investment.
I don't feel sorry for the most part. Anyone with half a brain can tell you it was all debt and speculation. I was in Donegal and I saw thousands of newly-built summerhomes and no-one in them.
People started living on margin and thought that the boom would go on and on. Buying houses in Spain etc. all on credit.
Doesn't anyone learn from history?? 1929 anyone?
I feel no sympathy at all for them. About 2 years back in my local pub some friends of mine said "Ireland is awash with money". "Awash with credit" is what I said in my mind.
The country is littered with huge housing estates with people living on top of each other. Thousands of kids with nothing to do but sex and drugs!

Puzzledirishgirl

Ireland/Southern Ireland used to be not anymore. (well apart from the oul recession!).

SFF

Your friend is half right.

The north and south of Ireland are fairly the same when it comes to being richer and poorer at the moment.

But if you look at the history of the whole island you'll see that between the years 1920 and 1980 you'll see that the north was very richer due to two things: 1. input from mainland England and 2. the war. Ireland, under de Valera stay natural while the north had large industries supporting the war effort. And also the American navel bases brought more money to the 6 counties.

But at the moment most of the world is in a recession. But the difference is that northern Ireland will recover much much faster. As the euro gains strength over the pound, people are flocking across the border to spend their hard earned money thinking that they are smarter and getting better deals. But by doing this they are making Ireland much poorer and Northern Ireland much richer! That is a fact that nobody can argue. If the global down turn is as bad as people predict then it will take the south five times longer to recover and that could mean 10, 20, or 30 years. And if you don't believe me, look at the last recession that hit the world after WWII, we only recover in the mid 90s. It happened before, it'll happen again!

The will North is richer than the south!!!

greenorlagh

The Republic is actually one of the wealthiest parts of Europe. It's certainly not poor - and nor is NI, linked in with the rest of UK.

bluebell

This credit crunch thing might mean there will be poor people both north and south, but up to now there was plenty of cash splashing about in the Republic. We all became quite comfortable, motorways sprang up all over the place, foreign holidays maybe several times a year, and the huge new houses being built had every convenience you could dream of - not like in days gone by. Many of today's children have never worn hand-me-down clothes.

That's only here. I can't speak for Northern Ireland, but I expect prosperity was evident there too.

Crystal C

No that's not really ture. The cost of living is very high in the south and alot of people from the south of ireland are travelling to the north to buy groceries etc which is helping to boost the economy of the North maybe this is what your friends referring to. I wouldn't say one was rich and one was poor both parts have their rich and poor areas.

Cian R

the republic is probably richer than the north and has been for about 10 years but before that the north was richer

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