Grace Fuchs is a rising junior majoring in global affairs and philosophy. Through Notre Dame Dublin’s Irish Internship Program, she is working this summer with ARINS (Analysing and Researching Ireland North and South), a joint project of the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies in Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs and the Royal Irish Academy.
Below she shares some of her viewpoints on what America and Ireland can learn from each other based on analyses of news reports and publicly available data as well as her firsthand observations in both countries.
On July 4th, I will not be celebrating the 250th anniversary of my country with my country. Instead, I will be watching from Ireland — a country deeply woven into US history and mythology, yet different enough for the nations to feel unfamiliar at times.
While the 250th is a time for celebration, anniversaries are also a place for reflection. My distance provides me room to compare two nations that are not mirror images, one is a superpower, one is a republic. One has historically projected strength, while the other has a strong history of neutrality and diplomacy. However, both have colonial history, migration, mythology, and democracies. Understanding those with similar history to us can help find avenues for progress. It is not to say that the two are the same, it is just to find the similarities and compare differences in policy that can be applied to make our allies stronger. Each can reflect lessons for the other to learn from.
Here I explore three lessons that Ireland can learn from the United States. Check out my first blog post for three lessons the US can learn from Ireland.
Foreign direct investment to domestic investment
Irish innovation has been rising for decades, ranking fifth of all European countries, with a reported increase in research and development (R&D) expenditures in 2023. Advances in pharmaceuticals, finance, and research industries show significant successes in innovation. Irish enterprises made up 70 percent of the market, but most of the R&D spending — 84 percent, according to the Central Statistics Office — was spent by foreign-owned enterprises. Ireland maintains the potential for a strong direct domestic investment strategy, with access to top universities, an educated workforce, $8 billion in R&D funding, multinational expertise, and EU market access. Ireland has a competitive 12.5 percent corporate taxation model and, through Enterprise Ireland, provides incentives for start-ups. The contrast leads to a vulnerability — that Ireland has the markers to be a strong domestic economy, but a framework that prioritizes foreign direct investement (FDI).
The US comparatively spends significant amounts in frontier development, prioritizing new and emerging markets, primarily in tech. It has a deep private venture capital market, valued at over $1.3 trillion. It has very forgiving bankruptcy measures — allowing chapter 11 companies to remain in operation while they restructure their debts. Further, under chapter 7, companies can liquidate assets to repay creditors. These structures help to promote innovation and risk-taking — allowing more domestic investment in the US.
While Ireland certainly will not rival the US in venture capital, the emphasis on bankruptcy laws to help promote at-home innovation can help Ireland be protected from the reliance on FDI. Current laws in Ireland prevent business owners who have been declared bankrupt from operating the business, running certain businesses for a certain period of time, and forcing a liquidation of assets. For Ireland, encouraging more local businesses, and providing avenues for private capital to scale up can significantly help with innovation. The capabilities exist. By allowing frameworks that support innovation, Ireland could decrease reliance on FDI.
The right to assemble
From the beginning, the US has been built on an active civil society where protests, organized action, and promotion of voices was celebrated. Dialogue and discourse, following the Great Awakening to modern civil rights or anti-war movements show that American values shape society. US values have historically been amplified by mass media, influencing how conversations around social progress are adapted globally. In fact, the 1960s Civil Rights Movement shaped the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association, with the NICRA even adopting the same slogan.
It highlights the historical strength of mass protest, organized social movements, and changing an ideal, not just a specific policy. In Ireland, protests have been very successful when targeting specific laws or policy changes by disrupting local life. For example, the tax on motor fuel was successful, with the government announcing more than $500 million in tax cuts on fuel after mass demonstrations halted daily life. These protests are often controlled, remaining nonviolent but disruptive.
While social movements in Ireland often follow the US, the trend of increasingly violent protests in America, with police being activated against citizens, is a lesson that Ireland should learn from. Encouraging peaceful protests, not riots or violence, is critical. Defending peace and respecting a diplomatic process is necessary to stop the breakdown of the rule of law. Ireland must remain steadfast in protecting the legal process — not masking the Garda, allowing civil discourse, and promoting conversation. Ireland can learn from America’s tradition of rights-based civic mobilization, while avoiding America’s slide into performative outrage and political violence.
Defense is critical
As a nation, Ireland spends the least out of all EU nations on its defense — accounting for just 0.2 percent, or $1.9 billion, when compared with the US at $950 billion. While Ireland certainly does not need to match US military capabilities, serious concerns about lack of advancement in the defense sector exist. As cyberattacks increase, Ireland is increasingly vulnerable, as seen by the recent decision to not update the sea-cable infrastructure as it is less vulnerable to disruptions. Further, the high-tech and global pharmaceutical base is highly vulnerable to cyberattacks. The lack of naval capabilities to protect maritime waters, and a weak cybersecurity infrastructure, needs significant change. The recent passage of the The Defence Sectoral National Development Plan 2026–2030 shows a commitment to increasing defense in these areas — one that should be encouraged and further developed for the future.
Read Grace Fuchs’ first blog post, “What America can learn from Ireland.”