Economic activity in Ireland since 1993 has grown by almost a quarter, more than three times the average increase in the rest of Europe. Rapid growth of output has been accompanied by substantial gains in employment, creating more jobs in three years than in the previous thirty. Employment growth in Ireland is thus much higher than in the rest of Europe and North America (Figure 1). In addition, net emigration – a persistent phenomenon in Ireland over the past two centuries – has been reduced, and in 1996 Ireland