Looking back to 1972, prior to joining the EEC, Ireland was heavily dependent on the UK for both exports and imports. This dependence decreased rapidly in the following decades and the Irish economy is much less UK focused presently.
12 The change in the type of goods exported has been similarly substantial with the economy becoming orientated around services and high value added manufacturing, as opposed to agriculture.13 This openness has become a defining feature of the Irish economy and was a key factor in the ‘economic miracle’ of the 1990s and early 2000s. However, this openness is also a source of vulnerability.