Post-2008 Irish economic downturn

Common card · No. 477384

The post-2008 Irish economic downturn in the Republic of Ireland, coincided with a series of banking scandals, followed the 1990s and 2000s Celtic Tiger period of rapid real economic growth fuelled by foreign direct investment, a subsequent property bubble which rendered the real economy uncompetitive, and an expansion in bank lending in the early 2000s. An initial slowdown in economic growth during the 2008 financial crisis greatly intensified in late 2008 and the country fell into recession for the first time since the 1980s. Emigration, as well as unemployment (particularly in the construction sector), escalated to levels not seen since that decade. The Irish Stock Exchange (ISEQ) general index, which reached a peak of 10,000 points briefly in April 2007, fell to 1,987 points—a 14-year low—on 24 February 2009 (the last time it was under 2,000 being mid-1995). In September 2008, the Irish government—a Fianna Fáil–Green coalition—officially acknowledged the country's descent into recession...

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