Ireland, Greece their collapse and why ...

Ireland's new government take power today, and it faces a huge challenge given the near bankrupt state of that unlucky country.

How different it was just a few year ago. Remember when Ireland was known as The Celtic Tiger? a miracle economy racing ahead of the rest and acting as an inspiration to many other countries across the world. Ireland's miracle extended from 1995 until 2007, that was of course before the country suffered a catastrophic reversal in 2008.

Within a matter of months, its GDP hurtling into the abyss, Ireland became the first European country to go into recession and unemployment reached the highest level on record, remaining one of the few things in the country which is still growing.

With its economy collapsed, and languishing with Greece amongst the broken "PIIGS" of Europe the wounded and humiliated the one time tiger had no option but to hold out the begging bowl to the EU and the IMF, and now faces years of crippling austerity to repay debts which may take decades to discharge.

Economists and commentators will come up with any number of explanations how this reversal took place, however, there is one factor they can not ignore no matter how much they try to, and that is the dramatic change in the Irish demographic in the period between their emergence as the successful Celtic tiger and their sudden ruin and catastrophic fall.

The following article appeared in the Christian Science Monitor on the 5th of September 2007, exactly one year before the tiger went into recession:

Ireland steps up as immigration leader

The 2006 census, released over the summer, shows a rapid rise in immigration in the past decade.

Dublin, Ireland

As Europe wrestles with its relatively new status as an immigrant continent, an unlikely leader is emerging: Ireland.Historically known for its high emigration rates, the island nation has exploded with newcomers from 150 different countries in the past decade – and taken some innovative steps to help its new residents settle in.

In the past ten years, Ireland has experienced a greater rise in the percentage of immigrants than Britain experienced over the past half century. In 1999, fewer than 6,000 work permits were granted to non-Irish migrant workers; last year, 48,000 were handed out. According to the 2006 census, which has been gradually released over the summer, 420,000 foreign nationals, or about 10 percent of the population, now live here.

In some primary schools in Dublin, some 50 percent of the children are from non-national backgrounds. In some districts, the number of immigrants has risen by 120 percent since 2002.

A combination of low and highly skilled workers, the newcomers have fueled the Celtic Tiger economic boom (my emphasis)– as well as social upheaval. But while Ireland has struggled with racism and other tensions, it's experienced nothing like the Paris riots of 2005 or the homegrown-terrorist attacks that rocked London in 2006 and Madrid in 2004. Some newcomers credit the proactive stance of the government, which has allowed non-citizens to participate in local politics and join the police force.

"By allowing immigrants to participate in society, Ireland has accepted the first generation of immigrants," says Rotimi Adebari, a Nigerian who in June became Ireland's first immigrant mayor. "I think my election is a model that can be showcased throughout the world. What Ireland has done is very unique."

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As you will note from the above the same claim about immigration "fueling the economy" which we keep hearing here, was being made about Ireland just before everything went pear shaped.

Let us not be deceived, it was the boom which brought about about the immigration, not the other way round. As Migration Information puts it: Ireland's economic boom during the 1990s brought unprecedented levels of prosperity and helped transform it into a "country of net immigration" by the early 2000s. For the first time in its history, Ireland experienced a significant inflow of migrants — both workers and asylum seekers — from outside the European Union.

Ireland's economic success story started in 1995, at a point when the Emerald Isle was not a primary destination for immigrants, in fact Ireland was a net exporter of immigrants. All that changed within four years when thousands up thousands of third world immigrants were crossing the Irish sea to claim their chunk of the prosperity.

Between 1999 and 2004 Ireland received almost 50,000 asylum applications

As an example of cause and effect in terms of the rise and fall of an economy Ireland makes an interesting study subject.

Ireland is not alone, and the European country in the worst state is of course Greece, the so called "back door" to Europe, and here are some news items and internet articles about that benighted nation which make interesting reading:

Greece struggles to cope as immigration tensions soar
The revolt at conditions in overflowing detention centres is causing scenes of chaos in the 'backdoor into Europe'.

Greece: A History of Migration
Countries around the globe have communities that bear witness to the waves of outward migration that once characterized Greece. Over the past 15 years, however, Greece has become a receiver of migrants and a permanent immigrant destination.

More than 100 Hunger Strikers Hospitalized in Greece
More than 100 migrants campaigning for legal status in Greece have been hospitalized after being on a hunger strike for more than 40 days.

Immigration issues still plague Greece
In the 1990s and 2000s some one million immigrants from Eastern and South Eastern Europe came to Greece after the fall of communism. Greeks didn't like it but the economy -- tourism, construction, telecom, etc. -- was booming and migrants took many of the jobs --

EU to help Greece counter clandestine immigration
"A mass influx is noted daily on the Greek land border with Turkey by third-country nationals attempting to illegally enter the country with the aim of accessing other EU countries,"

Is it just me, or is a patten starting to emerge here?

As Britain, another massive net importer of immigrants, wobbles on the lip of a double dip into the worst peacetime recession in our nations history, I ask again the question I have asked so often.

Where exactly is the evidence that immigration is such a huge benefit to the economies of Western nations, when the growing numbers of economic basket cases bear such compelling testimony to the contrary?