Our new found wealth is founded on institutional infrastructure put in by the UK and fueled by modern US tech companies. We manufacture little to no products despite having a comparable population to somewhere like Switzerland. Many EU countries have a legacy of quality products, Germans make cars, the French have perfume companies like L'Oréal. We don't have much that we actually produce or offer to the world. I refuse to count alcohol or software. I feel that needs to change for people to take us seriously.

We are so geared towards services here that if the American/UK companies pulled out of this country we would be destitute almost immediately. I think most people are completely unaware of this and somehow think we are self-sustaining. COVID was a good test of how much sustain smaller businesses have without custom. It all melted more or less instantly.

Our legacy is one of domestic abuse, alcoholism, shyster business tactics, and state/church abuse of power that would make a soviet hawk blush. I feel so much is buried that we will probably just never know about. I understand all countries have done sordid things but the marriage of church and state that we had here is unprecedented I feel.

The adversity we faced in the past was largely our own failings that new generations are still overcoming.

Anyway to offset the negativity, I still on balance think Dublin is a great place to live if you can be comfortable here and the good people here easily make it worth looking past the foibles of the past. I think the country has a great future if we can continue to expand the infrastructure we have in Dublin.