The Hindu : Ireland stands tall in the EU

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Mar 24, 2002

International

International

Ireland stands tall in the EU

By V.S. Sambandan

DUBLIN MARCH 23. Economic success has propelled Ireland to a new status within the European Union (EU). With decades of sluggishness a matter of the past, Ireland now strives for a greater share in the global economic pie. It is in the pursuit of this quest that it finds comfort within the EU. Smug with its performance in the region, the country hopes to improve its economic relations with India as well in the years ahead.

When Ireland joined the European Community it was ``the poorest country'' with 53 per cent of the Community's average GDP.

Today, it lays claim to being the ``third richest in terms of GDP'' in the EU. There is an unhesitating acceptance of the important factor behind the gains made during the past two decades.

``It's the EU'', is one common point emphasised by Irish economic players who met visiting Indian journalists over a series of meetings during the past few days.

Being a part of the EU is a matter of pride for Ireland. An emotion that is not surprising, given the backdrop that the Irish had rallied behind the concept comfortably.

The fact that its modest domestic market is only 3.5 million consumers and is, therefore, in need of the leverage through the EU's 370 million consumers is also not lost.

The most important gain from the EU has been a substantial financial assistance. A total of 45 billion euros which came as structural funding and the priority areas into which Ireland sunk these funds _ infrastructure and social spending _ lie behind the magic that swept across the country. ``Close to 37 per cent of the structural funding was spent on human resource development,'' emphasised Philip Ryan, Deputy Head of the Representation of the European Commission.

``When we joined in 1973, our dependence on the U.K. economy was 83 per cent; today it is 23 per cent,'' Mr. Ryan said, in a matter-of-fact comparison with its largest trading partner.

India's position as Ireland's trading partner, however, is way down.

``A great antipathy towards each other is a good starting point,'' felt Mr. Ryan, referring to the common colonial past shared by the two countries.

At present centered on the export of computers (47 per cent), Ireland's eye on the future is to improve bilateral economic relations _ an issue that will gain serious attention during the visit of the President, K.R.Narayanan, scheduled for May.

The State visit is eagerly looked forward to by Ireland's diplomats. That an Indian Head of State will visit Ireland after a gap of nearly three decades has also added to the sense of expectation here.

With economic relations set to be a crucial part of the agenda, there is also a new search for shared possibilities.

An area in which Ireland hopes to forge closer economic ties with India is also one where both are globally recognised _ the software industry.

However, a crucial mismatch to be overcome is that while the Irish have focussed on developing products, the Indian industry has been driven by outsourcing opportunities.

A blending of the open recognition of Indian software skills and the established Irish expertise in product development is hoped to form a tangible starting point.

Jennifer Condon, National Informatics Director, Enterprise Ireland, an organisation assisting the development of Irish business, sums up the success of the Irish software industry.

``Ten years ago there was no indigenous Irish software company, today there are over 500 owned by Irish,'' she said.

The Irish software industry today employs 15,000 persons and is worth one billion euros in revenue.

A form of co-operation that could prove mutually beneficial is that India and Ireland _ two of the ``three I's of the world's software industry'' (the other one being Israel) _ move together towards markets in other countries.

For this, however, overcoming the past ``mismatch of expectations'' will be crucial.

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