The “New Ireland” emerged in the 1990s, when the country experienced an economic and cultural boom during which it went from being one of the poorest countries in Europe to one of the richest countries. The socio-economic prosperity that has spread across the country has its origins in the evolution from a subsistence economy to a market economy. It was in the late 1950s that the Irish economy took its first steps into conditions of normal political stability and new policies and plans were introduced and implemented to transform an Ireland which based its economy on rural and agricultural industries, into a country capable of creating high standards of living, consumer goods and economic opportunities along with the rest of Europe. The real turning point for productivity-oriented economic policy came from Sean Lemass, the economic architect of modern Ireland, who during his tenure as Minister for Industry and Trade attempted to move away from protectionist policies in place since the 1930s with regard to international trade. He focused his program on foreign investment, tax breaks and subsidies for foreign companies wishing to set up a business in Ireland, which would have helped create the country's economic prosperity and reduce the big problem of unemployment. Following the implementation of this program, employment fell by a third; by the end of the 1960s, 350 foreign companies had established themselves in Ireland, triggering what can be called industrial colonization and, by employing 25% of the country's industrial workforce, emigration decreased considerably and the population increased.... .. middle of paper ......A.; Giblin, Thomas; McHugh, Deirdre, The Economic Development of Ireland in the Twentieth Century, Routledge, London, 1988. Ireland in the Ages to Come - Essays to celebrate TK Whitaker's 80th birthday edited by F. O' Muircheartaigh, IPA, Dublin, 1997. Continente Irlanda: history and contemporary writing a c. di C. De Petris and M. Stella, Carocci, Roma 2001. Jeffers, Jennifer M., The Irish novel at the end of the twentieth century: gender, body and power, Palgrave, New York, 2002. Kiberd, Declan, Inventing the Ireland: The Literature of the Modern Nation, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1996.Allen, Kieran, The Celtic Tiger: The Mith of Social Partnership in Ireland, Manchester University Press, Manchester, 2000.www.ilsole24ore.comwww.corriere. www.economist.com/www.timesonline.co.ukwww.irishtimes.comwww.independent.iewww.willstleger.com