Sports fans will tell you that to understand Ireland you must first understand the GAA. Ken says listening to today’s show (and following Conor McGregor’s career) will fill in the final few blanks.

Ireland’s basic formula for economic growth has been unchanged since the mid-1990s. Entice foreign multinationals to set up here with promises of low low tax rates, eager workers and access to the EU market, and forget about building something sustainable domestically. For many years we have congratulated ourselves on the success of this model, but now it’s coming under pressure from powerful forces both internal and external.

Our guest today is Aidan Regan, Assistant Professor at the School of Politics and International Relations at UCD. His recent work looks at the Irish economic recovery – who is winning, who is losing, and what consequences we might have to deal with if we keep going the same way.

Aidan explains why the housing crisis is an even bigger issue than we think, why it is Irish people inherently trust the EU, why there hasn’t been a Brexit/Trump style backlash over here, and why the kids these days are all commies.

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