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About Ireland
The Island of Ireland is divided into the Republic of Ireland
(ROI) and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom.
The ROI has a territory of 70,282 km² (more than twice Belgium)
for a population of a bit less than 4 million inhabitants (1.7
million in Northern Ireland on a territory of 14,160 km²).
The population is very young, 40% being younger than 25 years’
old.
The ROI is a member of the European Union since 1973 and has adopted
the euro. The Capital and main city of the ROI is Dublin.
The density of population is very low (around 55 inhabitants per
km²) in comparison with Belgium. |
English and Irish are the two official
languages, but Irish is only spoken on a daily basis by a very small
part of the population (less than 10%) mainly on the Western Coast
of the Island.
The ROI has been going through major economic changes over the last
decades. During the Celtic Tiger period (1994-2000) the average
annual growth of the economy was superior to 8.5%. The country changed
dramatically and became one of the richest in the EU. Today the
Irish have one of the highest purchasing powers in the world.
Even though the period of the Celtic Tiger finished some years ago,
Ireland still has good growth potential and still needs to develop
its infrastructures. On top of that, the population being very young,
the consumption becomes more and more diversified.
The ROI managed to attract a lot of foreign investments, mainly
from the US, and many multinationals are located in the country,
mainly in the ICT, pharmaceutical, financial and medical devices
sectors.
The Irish market presents a lot of business opportunities. This
does not mean this is an easy market, but for the company who is
ready to spend some time and efforts in prospecting the market,
opportunities exist in almost every sector.
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