摘要：Historical context is all-important in any understand-ing of Irish economic development. This paper summarise keybackground issues concerning the two economies on the islandbetween the dramatic industrialisation in the late 19th century o fthe region that now makes up Northern Ireland, and the equallydramatic modernisation of the Republic of Ireland in the late 20thcentury. Turning to the state of the two economies today, we showthat a fortuitous consequence of the last decade of fast growth inthe Republic of Ireland is that the two economies face each otheracross the North-South border with a much greater degree of socialand economic parity than they have done at any time sincepartition in 1920. Turning to the future, the paper explores how theisland economy might evolve during the next couple of decades, ata time when the EU economy is likely to be increasingly integrated
