Ireland INC: A History of Irish Business

Ireland’s business history is all too often conflated with its political history, or its economic policy, or overlooked altogether in the excitement of its crowded historical narrative.

Ireland INC: A History of Irish Business is a long-overdue reversal of that trend – providing the first chronology of Irish business, bringing Irish companies and their business leaders and entrepreneurs into sharp focus, and exploring how policy, initiative and hard work all combined to create today’s diverse business landscape.

Presented in three parts, Part 1 examines the dominant themes of the past 60 years in a series of essays by respected commentators who re-trace key moments and sectors with precision and insight.

Part 2 represents a rare opportunity to hear directly from some of the business community’s most impactful figures in reflective mood: business leaders including Michael Smurfit, Dermot Desmond, Denis O’Brien, Liam O’Mahony, Martin Naughton, Gary McGann and Peter Sutherland.

Finally, Part 3 offers rare and mainly exclusive interviews from the archives of Business & Finance – many of which have been unseen for decades – as icons such as Tony Ryan and Tony O’Reilly share insights that remain relevant today.

Ireland INC: A History of Irish Business provides a critical chronology of Irish business in the domestic and global contexts.

It explains the evolution of the business community: successes and failures, booms and recessions, work, deals and extraordinary personalities – a unique review that brings us to today and on to the future.