WHAT IS GLOBALISATION AND DOES IT HELP OR HURT DEVELOPMENT? 20
DISCOVER THE FACTS What is causing globalisation?
In the early twentieth century Ireland was a very different place, with far less freedom of movement or information than we have now:
• Transport was much slower and it was harder to get permission to visit other countries. Most ordinary people never left their country unless they were emigrating for work. If someone left, it was likely to be for good. They were unlikely to visit or speak to loved ones at home other than by post.
• Limited communications technologies and no internet meant most people knew little about the world outside their own county, perhaps even their village or town.
• Most big companies stayed in the area their owners were from and employed local people (for example, Murphy’s Brewery in Cork).
• Trade was important, but the government had a lot of control over it. If companies did not like how much tax they had to pay, they could not just move country.
Present-day flight 6 hours
Advances in transport over time, shown in hours needed to cross the Atlantic Ocean
