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Although much in Ireland has changed over recent decades, the lessons learned from Dr TK Whitaker's life's work still reverberate today. His seminal 1958 study, "Economic Development", which formed the basis of the first programme for economic expansion 1958-1963, set the course for the modernisation of Ireland's economy.

At the time the study was published, this country was blighted by economic depression, chronic emigration, unemployment and near total dependency on the British market for exports. While most industrialised nations had experienced rapid growth in the aftermath of the second World War, Ireland's largely agrarian economy had stagnated, drained of dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit by decades of misguided protectionist policies. By the late 1950s, the average income per capita in Ireland was less than half that of the most successful economies in Europe.

Whitaker's plan prompted a seismic shift in economic policy away from protectionism and towards internationalisation. In the decade-and-a-half that followed, successive governments progressively opened the economy to global markets and foreign investment. Guided by Whitaker, the government abolished longstanding barriers to free trade, replaced prohibitions on foreign direct investment (FDI) with incentives aimed at attracting multinational companies, and signed the country up to trade deals such as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and the Anglo-Irish Free Trade Agreement. Whitaker's blueprint for structural change prepared the ground for Ireland's eventual entry into the EEC in 1973 and set living standards on a path to convergence with advanced countries' levels.

Societal impacts

The success of the programme for economic expansion in boosting economic performance during the 1960s made more money available to the State to fund policy actions with high societal impact that still resonate today, most notably the introduction of free second-level education later that decade.

Whitaker's strategy for economic development, driven by competitive export sectors and FDI, has allowed the Irish economy to prosper in a globalised world. We are now one of the most open economies in the world, with modern industries and knowledge-based services and an unrivalled record in attracting mobile investment.

Over recent decades, we have come to take free trade and access to global markets for granted. But political shocks such as the result of the Brexit referendum and the election of Donald Trump have put protectionism back on the global policy agenda. Depending on the nature of the UK's relationship with the EU after Brexit, trade between Ireland and our nearest neighbour in the future may be restricted by trade barriers. Whitaker played a key role in efforts to improve relations between the Republic and Northern Ireland, yet the reintroduction of Border controls could severely impede commerce between the two parts of the island.

In the US, Trump has blamed free trade for the decline of traditional manufacturing sectors and for driving down the wages of many workers. His plans to reshape the global trading system may raise new challenges for businesses that export to that part of the world.

How should government and businesses be preparing to deal with these challenges? A core lesson contained in Whitaker's work is that if Ireland is to continue to prosper in global markets it must remain internationally competitive. As Whitaker put it: "If we do not expand production on a competitive basis, we shall fail to provide the basis necessary for the economic independence and material progress of the community."

Innovation

To offset any decline in exports to the UK, our export sectors will need to gain market share in the EU-27 member states remaining after Brexit. This will require a relentless focus on costs in our economy, but also on innovation and new product development, on investment in R&D and education, on the continuous adoption of frontier technologies and practices by businesses and in the public sector, and on the talent and skills of our researchers and workforce.

To this end, identifying "potentialities" and "deficiencies" across the Irish economy, as Whitaker did so meticulously in "Economic Development", and quickly changing policy and business practices if needs be, should be an ongoing exercise. For example, the short-term boost to the US economy from Trump's plan to increase infrastructural spending and cut taxes will create opportunities for Irish businesses.

In a world of dramatic policy shifts and rapid technological change, agility is the key to growth and competitiveness. As Whitaker wrote: "Readiness to adapt to changing conditions is a sine qua non for economic success."

A constant theme in Whitaker's work that is also pertinent today is that economic growth is not an end in itself, but a means to improvements in human wellbeing. Throughout his career, Whitaker was passionately committed to ensuring that economic development delivered sustainable and inclusive societies.

That vision remains relevant today, with much work to be done. World leaders have yet to deliver a model of economic growth that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Populism

Moreover, the rise of populism in many advanced countries and the backlash against globalisation evident in recent voting patterns reflect in part the growing gap between those who have gained most from globalisation and those who have gained least.

In the US, for example, real GDP per capita has risen substantially since 1970, while real median household income has been largely flat. Such divergence is not sustainable. While Trump points the finger at free trade and immigration, other factors may be much more important, such as skill-based technical change, deunionisation and minimum wage policy.

Here at home, the housing crisis and homelessness continue to affect many families. Inspired by Whitaker's evidence-based approach to policymaking, the onus is on researchers in Ireland and around the world to identify the true causes of these problems and to recommend remedial actions.

Ken Whitaker was born in 1916 and as we look to the next 100 years, Whitaker's legacy challenges us all, researchers, policymakers, business leaders and citizens, to remember that, as he wrote, "we are not seeking economic progress for purely materialistic reasons" and demand the "establishment of a better social order, the raising of human dignity and, eventually, the participation of all" in the benefits of globalisation and economic growth.

Alan Ahearne is director of the Whitaker Institute for Innovation and Societal Change and Professor of Economics at NUI Galway.

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Whitaker's work is as relevant as ever to today's Ireland

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Although much in Ireland has changed over recent decades, the lessons learned from Dr TK Whitaker's life's work still reverberate today. His seminal 1958 study, "Economic Development", which formed the basis of the first programme for economic expansion 1958-1963, set the course for the modernisation of Ireland's economy.

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•The Catholic Church – blocked economic change

•Conservative mindset of the generation of the national revolution

•Clientelist system

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•The standard of living rose

•Progress was made in terms of welfare provision for the underprivileged

•The educational system underwent far-reaching change – secondary education is open to all in 1966

•Censorship was relaxed

•Irish television service launched in 1961

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•The average annual emigration rate (per 1000 of the population) stood at about 14 between 1951 and 1961.

•It dropped to less than 5 between 1961 and 1971.

•44,427 emigrated in 1961

•Only 12,226 emigrated in 1963.

By 1966 the population had risen by 66,000.

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•‘Ironically…the protectionist apparatus of the 1930s was in large part the brainchild of Sean Lemass, who was Minister for Industry and Commerce for most of the years between 1932 and 1959.’

•Lemass ‘was the instigator of not one, but two historic reversals of economic policy, one in 1932 and the other in 1959.’

Garvin, T., Preventing the Future, p7.

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Exam note: Questions about Sean Lemass frequently appear on Higher Level history papers

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Early Life: Born in Dublin in 1899, Sean Lemass joined the Irish Volunteers in 1914. He fought in the GPO in 1916 but escaped arrest because of his age. He rejoined the Volunteers as a full time officer in 1917, was active in the IRA's Dublin brigade in the war of independence and spent some time in prison.

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Seán Lemass (1899-1971) was taoiseach from 1959 to 1966.

He grew up on Capel Street, in Dublin's north inner city, and fought in the 1916 Rising as a part-time volunteer and in the subsequent War of Independence. In the Civil War that followed Independence, Lemass sided with the minority anti-Treaty side, and was "second in command" of the 180-strong IRA force that seized the Four Courts, of which the occupation, from April to June 1922, played a major role in sparking the Civil War.

A stand-off ensued between the anti-treaty forces and the army of the provisional government under the command of Michael Collins. Collins brought matters to a head in late June by bombarding the building. Lemass managed to escape but was arrested later.

After the end of the Civil War the following year, Lemass's brother Noel, who was also in the anti-Treaty IRA, was kidnapped and murdered by pro-Tready forces even though formal hostilities had ended. Seán Lemass was freed on compassionate grounds and, in November 1924, was elected a TD for Sinn Féin in Dublin South City.

But Sinn Féin TDs refused to take their seats in the Dáil or recognise the Irish Free State, as Ireland was then known, and in 1926 the party split ,with the leader, Éamon de Valera, and others including Lemass leaving and forming a new party, Fianna Fáil. In 1932, the new party was swept to power and remained in office for 16 years.

Lemass was made minister for industry and commerce and, during the second World War, or the Emergency as it was termed in the Free State, minister for supplies. Some historians see the policies pursued by Lemass during this period of his career as protectionist and geared towards national self-reliance at the expense of foreign trade.

In 1958, after a period in opposition and coalition governments (then called inter-party governments), Lemass became tánaiste and minister for industry and commerce and presided over an economic policy known as First Programme for Economic Development. This formed the basis for the First Programme for Economic Expansion, which became government policy when Lemass became taoiseach in 1959. The policy was the brainchild of Dr TK Whitaker, secretary at the Department of Finance.

The policy was anti-protectionist, looking to international trade and foreign inward investment as the driver of economic growth, supported by State incentives.

Together, Lemass and Whitaker are credited with being the architects of modern Ireland, stimulating economic growth and a more outward-looking foreign policy, especially with regard to the then European Economic Community and also a normalising of relations with Northern Ireland unionists through a historic meeting in Belfast with the Northern prime minister, Terence O'Neill, in January 1965.

In 1966, Lemass retired from office, telling the Dáil succinctly: "I have resigned" but he remained a TD until 1969.

He lived quietly in Dublin, with his wife, Kathleen. In 1951, a daughter, Maureen, married Charles Haughey, whom she met in UCD. Haughey became a successor to Lemass as taoiseach and leader of Fianna Fáil.

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Seán Lemass: from IRA leader to the taoiseach credited with being the architect of modern Ireland

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Seán Lemass (1899-1971) was taoiseach from 1959 to 1966. He grew up on Capel Street, in Dublin's north inner city, and fought in the 1916 Rising as a part-time volunteer and in the subsequent War of Independence.

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On my way to Washington for the first annual meeting of the IMF.... I had with me a copy of the Sept 1957 issue of 'Dublin Opinion'. The cover cartoon showed Ireland as a mature, but still attractive lady, consulting a fortune-teller and admonishing her: Get to work! They're saying I've no future'.
As so often with humorous journals. 'Dublin Opinion' had caught and vividly expressed the mood of the moment.

Whitaker memorandum National Archives

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The Party Inside FF

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How to Enrich a Country: Free Trade or Protectionism?

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What is the best way to make a country rich? Should you adopt a policy of free trade? Or is protectionism and economic nationalism the better way? We explore the history and theory of one of the central questions of economics and politics.

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How bleak and grim was Ireland in the 1950s?

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The prescribed Case Studies for students sitting the 2018 and 2019 Leaving Certificate will be from the section - Government, Economy and Society in Ireland 1949-1989 The 3 Case Studies for the Document Based Question are - 1. The First Programme for Economic Expansion, 1958-1963 2. Impact of the EEC on fisheries 3.

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De Valera President - Irish Version (1959)

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Title reads: "De Valera President". (Irish Version) Dublin, Republic of Ireland (Eire, Southern Ireland). Exterior shot St. Patrick's Hall, Dublin Castle. L/S President Eamon de Valera arriving with his wife. M/S outgoing president, Sean O'Kelly, looking on. Interior: high angled shot President de Valera entering St. Patrick's Hall, guests standing either side.

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100 Years of Whitaker - Governor, Statesman. Perspectives from the Archive

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Featuring Governor Philip R Lane, Director of NUI Galway Whitaker Institute Alan Ahearne, Biographer Anne Chambers and Central Bank Records Manager Ross Higgins

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TK Whitaker - Seirbhíseach an Stáit (Servant of the State)

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This documentary on the former Secretary at the Department of Finance airs on the 27th December 2010 on TG4. Declared the Greatest Living Irish Person by the 2002 ESB/Rehab People of the Year Awards, TK Whitaker is one of the giants of 20th Century Ireland.

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A tribute to Sean Lemass, ex Prime Minister of Ireland. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/bd0a1ef94bc744afa529af57998781ff Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

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Sean Lemass, Minister for Industry and Commerce in Eire, arrives to open the new factory at Inchicore road. He is greeted by Mr. King and Mr. Morell and carries out the ceremony with a golden key. He then makes a tour inside.

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Robert J. Savage - Seán Lemass (Historical Association of Ireland Life and Times New Series)

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Robert J. Savage, Professor of the Practice of History at Boston College, is interviewed by Elliot Brandow, Senior Reference Librarian, about his new book "Seán Lemass" (Historical Association of Ireland Life and Times New Series), published by University College Dublin Press. Seán Lemass is generally regarded as the man most responsible for the modernisation of Irish society.

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An Taoiseach Séan Lemass announces plans for the 1916 Rising 50th anniversary commemoration ceremonies.

At a press conference of the 1916 Commemoration Committee Séan Lemass outlines the plans for official ceremonies to celebrate,

A great and decisive event in our history and to honour all the men and women living and dead who had the privilege of participating in it.

Joe Fahy reports that the ceremonies will cost the State about £128,000. A four-page programme sets out each of the events that will take place including: parades on Easter Sunday; the opening of the Garden of Remembrance on Easter Monday by President de Valera in the presence of 1916 survivors; and a 1916 Pageant in Croke Park.

At the press conference Taoiseach Séan Lemass also made a public appeal for survivors of the Rising to make themselves known, so that they can be issued with formal invitations to the ceremonies.

An RTÉ News report by Joe Fahy broadcast on 11 February 1966.

'Aiséirí' in Croke Park (Easter Week, 1966)

More on the 1966 Commemorations of The 1916 Rising

Our interactive map offers powerful accounts from women and men who lived through the Easter Rising in 1916. Visit www.rte.ie/1916

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An Taoiseach Séan Lemass announces plans for the 1916 Rising 50th anniversary commemoration ceremonies. At a press conference of the 1916 Commemoration Committee Séan Lemass outlines the plans for official ceremonies to celebrate, A great and decisive event in our history and to honour all the men and women living and dead who had the privilege of participating in it.

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Brian Farrell talks to economist and public servant Dr Thomas Kenneth (TK) Whitaker.

On 1 March 1976 Dr Whitaker stepped down as head of the Central Bank of Ireland and was replaced by Charles H Murray. Whitaker became Governor of the Central Bank in 1969 and in this interview he talks about his experience, his philosophy and his hopes for the future.

The discussion covers progress that has been made in the Civil Service, the qualities Whitaker brought to the role as controller of the Department of Finance, and his admiration for Seán Lemass. Whitaker describes Lemass as a man of action who,

Didn't really have much time for small talk

Farrell and Whitaker also talk about the growth of State sponsored bodies, the condition of the economy both domestically and internationally, and the strengths and weaknesses of the private and public sectors.

This episode of 'Seven Days' was broadcast on 2 March 1976.

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Brian Farrell talks to economist and public servant Dr Thomas Kenneth (TK) Whitaker. On 1 March 1976 Dr Whitaker stepped down as head of the Central Bank of Ireland and was replaced by Charles H Murray. Whitaker became Governor of the Central Bank in 1969 and in this interview he talks about his experience, his philosophy and his hopes for the future.

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As Secretary of the Department of Finance in 1958 T.K. Whitaker introduced the First Programme for Economic Expansion.

This programme, which became known as the 'Grey Book' was a landmark document for the Irish economy at a time when economic growth was virtually non-existent. Whitaker felt that this plan would give a badly needed boost to economic development.

In 1969 T.K. Whitaker spoke to Paddy Gallagher about national economic planning and how the programmes have evolved over the years.

In an interview for the programme 'Work' broadcast on 10 April 1969 Whitaker talks about the value of economic planning in terms of morale building both at a national level and for the man on the street. Psychological stimulus was a key component in getting Ireland out of a "rut", according to Whitaker.

Whitaker describes the evolution of planning programmes in terms of degrees of rigidity. Economic plans introduced by Whitaker are largely viewed as being responsible for promoting free trade and foreign investment in Ireland throughout the 1960s.

Dr TK Whitaker served as Secretary at the Department of Finance from 1956-69 and was a Senator from 1977-81 and 1981-82.

This episode of 'Work' was broadcast on 10 April 1969. 'Work' was a fortnightly report on Ireland at work. The programme was introduced by Brian Cleeve and Patrick (Paddy) Gallagher.

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As Secretary of the Department of Finance in 1958 T.K. Whitaker introduced the First Programme for Economic Expansion. This programme, which became known as the 'Grey Book' was a landmark document for the Irish economy at a time when economic growth was virtually non-existent.