Ireland is situated in the Atlantic Ocean, and is part of the British Isles. The Irish Sea separates it from Great Britain. It is split into Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and has been since the Partition in 1921. Northern Ireland is part of the UK.
As an island nation, Ireland is heavily dependent upon the maritime transport industry. A number of major international operators have established operations/offices in Ireland (NOL, MSC, d’Amico Società di Navigazione S.p.A).
Carrying 99% of the volume of Ireland’s foreign trade, all 10 Irish ports are a crucial part of the infrastructure (Ports of Cork, Drogheda, Dublin, Dundalk, Dun Laoghaire, Galway, New Ross, Shannon Foynes, Waterford and Wicklow). Dublin Port is the largest of them all.
Domestic economy has been recovering and growing, surpassing the economic recession of 2009. Unemployment has been falling for three years, as the economy continues to add jobs. Ireland was named the fastest growing economy in Europe for the 2nd year in 2015. The high GDP per capita of Ireland indicates that economic productivity levels and standards of living are amongst the highest in the world.
Presently, in 2016, the US is Ireland’s largest export market at 20% of the total export value, while the UK accounts for 38% of the country’s imports. Ireland has more foreign investments within its borders than investments abroad.
Exports are at an all-time high, driven by both goods and services. Composition of exports (2013): Pharma and Chemical – 28%; Computer Services – 22%; Business Services – 12%; Financial Services – 10%; Medical Devices – 6%; Machinery and Transport – 6%; Food and Beverage – 5%; Other products – 11%.
Brewing textiles, clothing and a wide variety of agricultural produce (such as turnips, barley, potatoes, sugar beets and beef) are also exported.
Ireland is the world’s largest exporter of software. Google, Microsoft, Apple, IBM, Dell, Intel, Motorola, Oracle, Lotus, and Boeing Computer Services all have headquarters/regional centers in Ireland. As of 2015, 25% of Europe’s computers are made in Ireland.
Interesting facts:
- Ireland has the youngest population in Europe with 33.6% under the age of 24.
- Ireland’s population is 4.7 million. Over one quarter of the total population lives around the Dublin area. Other large cities are Galway and Kilkenny. Some 80 million Irish people live all around the world: the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, Argentina, New Zealand, Mexico, South Africa, states of the Caribbean and continental Europe.
- The ‘green nation’ is committed to addressing climate change, it is a leading country in introducing policies to improve the environment.
- Irish Gaelic language is still in existence and use.
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Rui Pinto is the COO of Multicargo, supervising all the day-to-day operations of the company and contributing to the development of new services and solutions, customized to the clients’ needs. He has been an employee of Multicargo since its establishment in 2010.
