Discourse at the Edge: Enterprise Discourse in Ireland

Ireland is an economy, society and culture at the edge. It is at the edge of Europe and at the edge of both USA/UK and more mainland European or EU variants of capitalism. More recently it has been at the edge of economic crisis. Yet enterprise discourse is still central in Ireland. Enterprise discourse in Ireland is influenced by global and European Union (EU) developments. However, Irish enterprise discourse is not merely a ‘local adoption’. For example, high Irish economic growth rates during the ‘Celtic Tiger’ period have coincided with the development of the EU’s enterprise policy, thus giving the impression that Ireland can serve as a model. Following the recent economic crisis, Ireland’s response of slashing public expenditure has been held up for others to emulate. Thus an examination of enterprise discourse in Ireland is of concern to more than residents of Ireland.