Cian O'Callaghan

Placing Neoliberalism: The Rise and Fall of Ireland's Celtic Tiger

In this paper we provide an account of the property-led boom and bust which has brought Ireland to the point of bankruptcy. Our account details the pivotal role which neoliberal policy played in guiding the course of the countrys recent history, but also heightens awareness of the how the Irish case might, in turn, instruct and illuminate mappings and explanations of neoliberalisms concrete histories and geographies. To this end, we begin by scrutinising the terms and conditions under which the Irish state might usefully be regarded as neoliberal. Attention is then given to uncovering the causes of the Irish property bubble, the housing oversupply it created, and the proposed solution to this oversupply. In the conclusion we draw attention to the contributions which our case study might make to the wider literature of critical human geographies of neoliberalism, forwarding three concepts which emerge from the Irish story which may have wider resonance, and might constitute a useful fleshing out of theoretical framings of concrete and particular neoliberalisms: path amplification, neoliberalisms topologies and topographies, and accumulation by repossession.

The New Ruins of Ireland? Unfinished Estates in the Post‐Celtic Tiger Era

In the wake of the global financial crisis, and as Europes financial and fiscal woes continue, Irelands beleaguered economy has attracted a great deal of scrutiny, with much made of the countrys status as one of the PIIGS and the fact that it was bailed out by the troika of the IMF, EU and ECB in November 2010. Whilst most attention has been directed at Irelands banks and the strategy of the Irish government in managing the crisis, substantial interest (both nationally and internationally) has been focused on the property sector and in particular the phenomenon of so-called ‘ghost estates’ (or, in official terms, unfinished estates). As of October 2011 there were 2,846 such estates in Ireland, and they have come to visibly symbolize the collapse of Irelands ‘Celtic Tiger’ economy. In this essay, we examine the unfinished estates phenomenon, placing them within the context of Irelands property boom during the Celtic Tiger years, and conceptualize them as ‘new ruins’ created through the search for a spatial fix by speculative capitalism in a time of neoliberalism. We detail the characteristics and geography of such estates, the various problems afflicting the estates and their residents, and the Irish governments response to those problems. In the final section we examine the estates as exemplars of new ruins, the remainder and reminder of Celtic Tiger excess.

Urban anxieties and creative tensions in the European Capital of Culture 2005: ‘It couldn’t just be about Cork, like’

Since its inception, and particularly since Glasgow hosted the event in 1990, the European Capital of Culture (ECOC) has increasingly come to be viewed by host cities as a tool to regenerate, rebrand and reposition themselves in cultural and economic terms. In recent years this has resulted in a predictable set of conflicts over cultural ownership, social inclusion and economics/arts dichotomies. In this paper, the author argues that these problems lie at the core of the ECOC itself, in that it has multiple objectives which are not mutually reinforcing and often contradictory. Based on primary research undertaken in Cork between 2005 and 2008, this paper explores how the policy framework of the event created dissonances within the cultural sector. It then uses the ambivalent outcomes of Cork 2005 as a starting point to address some of the ways in which the ECOC could be mobilised as a cultural policy designed to encourage creative dialogue through dissent.

Topologies and topographies of Ireland's neoliberal crisis

In this paper, we explore successive waves of neoliberalization in Ireland. We contend that neoliberalization remained largely “invisible” during the Celtic Tiger because a property bubble permitted a period of debt-driven growth, but was revealed and politicized by the crisis. Mobilizing the ideas of topology and topography, we explore the relationships which unfolded between the “financialization” of the global economy and the two twin pillars of the Irish crisis narrative: property and debt. We conclude that there is a need for future studies to consider how neoliberalism, financialization and uneven development are being reshaped by geographically situated responses to the crisis.

Contrapuntal Urbanisms: Towards a Postcolonial Relational Geography

Relational geography has reformulated how we study cities, but has reiterated perennial problems in the discipline between the utility of theory and the complex realities it purports to represent. I argue that by constructing this problem as a dialogue between urban and postcolonial studies, we can find better ways to understand this frustration and reflexively engage with it. Through reworking Edward Saids ‘contrapuntal’ perspective, I propose a relational urban geography which is more sensitive to the ontological limitations of theory, and which takes a provisional approach to conceptualising and writing about cities. I then illustrate these propositions through a contrapuntal reading of recent redevelopment in Cork, Ireland.

Housing in Ireland: From Crisis to Crisis

In this paper we provide an overarching analysis of housing in Ireland from 1993-2014, examining trends in housing and land prices, supply and vacancy, social housing, private renting, mortgage debt and arrears, negative equity, and homelessness. The central thesis we advance is that housing in Ireland has been perpetually in crisis over the past twenty years, evolving through three distinct phases: 1993-2006 (the Celtic Tiger years); 2007-2012 (the crash); 2013- (unstable, uneven and partial rebalancing). The paper sets out the trends, policy and the multiple crises operating within each of these periods, illustrated through an extensive use of relevant data. The conclusion sets out why housing in Ireland evolved through these crises and examines what might be done to solve present issues and provide more robust housing policies that will be sustainable, equitable and ameliorate against future boom and bust cycles.