Professor Joe Lee explains how his book 'Ireland 1912-1985 Politics and Society' reviews the factors that shaped modern Ireland.
Joe Lee is Professor of Modern History at University College Cork and has just published 'Ireland 1912-1985 Politics and Society'
Gay Byrne provides his own interpretation of the book.
He reckons that since we got our independence, we've made a right mess of running this little country of ours.
His findings indicate that most European countries which lagged behind Ireland in 1916 have not only caught up with but passed out Ireland in terms of population, standard of living and economic progress. Although he acknowledges the individual talents of the Irish people, he says,
We're a nation of under-achieving whingers, incompetent, uncoordinated money-grabbing begrudgers.
The book says that innovation and entrepreneurial spirit in Ireland are stifled by attitudes. He points the finger of blame on successive generations of politicians, the electoral system, and the bureaucratic and unaccountable civil service.
In reply, Professor Joe Lee describes this interpretation as oversimplified and provides his own position. He says the question the book addresses is,
How have we performed in comparative terms since independence?
Joe Lee acknowledges there has been a good performance in some areas, such as achieving and sustaining political stability and leadership but problems arise when it comes to economics. Individual talents are not being transferred into an effective collective performance in the sphere of economics. He concludes that the problem is an inability to manage individual talents for the collective good and a failure to learn from history. These are things he believes that we can change if we want to.
We have the worst growth record in Europe in the 20th century.
Professor Joe Lee is joined on the panel by Terence Brown, Associate Professor of English at Trinity College Dublin, and Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh, Associate Professor of History at University College Galway and Dean of the Faculty of Arts.
This episode of The Late Late Show was broadcast on 19 January 1990. The reporter is Gay Byrne.
