The role of T.A. Smiddy in Fianna Fáil economic policy-making 1932–45

Professor Timothy Aloysius (T.A.) Smiddy was economic advisor to Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Eamon de Valera between 1932 and 1945. Notwithstanding a distinguished public service career, Smiddy’s role as the first independent economic advisor to an Irish political leader post-1922 has escaped examination in the existing literature. This research identifies that Smiddy had a real and prolonged influence on the banking and monetary policies pursued by de Valera during the 1932–45 period. Ultimately, however, the often progressive nature of his proposals was circumscribed by de Valera’s reluctance to supersede the more traditional views of the Department of Finance and the Currency Commission. This paper also identifies that de Valera took a keener interest in economic matters than has been generally assumed. However, such an interest did not result in a coherent, or consistent, Fianna Fáil banking and currency policy in the 1930s and early 1940s.     

Record-Making,Research, and Removal: Mitigating Impacts on Rock Art in a CRM Context in Southern Africa—the Case of the Metolong Dam,Lesotho

African Archaeological Review - This paper reports on the steps taken to mitigate the impact of the Metolong Dam (Lesotho) on the rock art present within the catchment of its associated reservoir....     

Industry Clusters in Ireland: An Application of Porter's Model of National Competitive Advantage to Three Sectors

This paper examines the importance of industrial clusters, and the relevance of Porter's diamond model, in the context of the small open economy of Ireland. It analyses the experience of three relatively successful Irish indigenous sectors and it considers to what extent have clusters of related or connected industries been important in accounting for the degree of success attained in Ireland. We do not find evidence of well-developed clusters of the type described by Porter, and our study provides support for some previous critiques of Porter's model. It is concluded that Irish industrial policy does not need to be focused strongly on developing the type of industry clusters described in Porter's model. At the same time, different elements of Porter's model do prove to be relevant and we find that companies in Ireland benefit from being part of some form of wider grouping of connected or related companies and industries, although these groupings can differ from Porter's clusters in significant respects.     

Competitive Advantage in the Irish Indigenous Software Industry and the Role of Inward Foreign Direct Investment

Since the mid-1980s, the software industry has been one of the fastest growing sectors of the Irish economy. This article examines the causes of the degree of success which the Irish indigenous software industry has attained in terms of growth and international competitiveness. In exploring the development of its competitive advantage we examine, in turn, the role of Irish factor conditions, domestic demand conditions, related and supporting industries, and firm strategy, structure and rivalry, in accordance with Porter's (1990) 'diamond' model. In doing this, we pay close attention to the role of foreign-owned transnational corporations (TNCs) in Ireland in influencing the development and competitive advantage of the indigenous software industry. This is a relevant issue in view of the simultaneous rapid development of the indigenous and foreign-owned branches of the industry, and also the strong growth among other, possibly related, TNC-dominated sectors such as computers and telecommunications equipment. This paper shows that the Irish indigenous software industry has had a strong competitive performance. There is no single outstanding reason for this; rather, causes can be found in all four of Porter's suggested determinants of competitive advantage, so that it is the combination of a range of favourable influences that has proved effective. However, the case of the Irish indigenous software industry shows how foreign TNCs can indeed have a significant positive influence on indigenous competitive advantage.     

Marx on the Reciprocal Interconnections between the Soil and the Human Body: Ireland and Its Colonialised Metabolic Rifts

Marx’s writings on Ireland are widely known, but less appreciated is their centrality to the formation of his ecological thought. We show how Marx’s understanding of metabolic rift evolved in line with his writings on colonial Ireland, revealing a concept more holistic than the “classic” metabolic rift of the soil. We recover and extend this concept to the corporeal metabolic rift, showing how both are inherent in Marx’s various writings on Ireland. Whilst the rift of the soil concerns the extraction and consumption of organic soil constituents, the corporeal rift describes processes of depopulation, and their effects on demography and family formation. These “rifted” processes are interconnected such that depleted soil impacts on the health of those who consume food grown on those “rifted” soils. We argue that the presence of these rifts substantiates Ireland’s inability to sustain itself both economically and organically, which determined its persistent post-Famine underdevelopment.