Hard to imagine the hysteria surrounding Ireland’s odyssey at Italia 90 today but it gripped a nation struggling with low self esteem and a crippled economy and taught us that we could be better. The previous two decades had been a disaster. The economy grew at a tepid 2% per year for most of the years following our EEC membership in 1973. Emigration robbed us of our young and talented and even with that exodus, unemployment of up to 18% gripped the country destroying many rural sporting clubs. By the end of the 80’s Ireland’s per capita income was over a third below that of the UK. We were an economic basket case and the poorest country in the EU of the time.

But strangely it wasn’t the economy that got us hysterical - it was football. I couldn’t watch the England match after Gary Lineker scored and went off for a  walk in UCD to calm down. When Kevin Sheedy equalised there was an almighty roar over the capital and I nearly killed myself in the sprint home! But did the World Cup trigger Ireland’s economic revival? It would be romantic to think that it did. It was certainly a contributory factor but the heavy lifting as done elsewhere, alas. By the mid 80’s Ireland was forced to gut public spending, cut taxes, abolish agencies and reduce red tape.   Sound familiar? The top rate of income tax in 1975 was 80% and for most of the 1980’s it was well over 60%. The black economy boomed and PAYE workers were the only ones paying tax fairly simply because they didn’t have the same scope to evade tax as everyone else.  Ironically tax at over 60% is precisely what the loonies in the left now want to do to avoid public pay and pension cuts. They’ve clearly  learnt nothing from Ireland’s revival. By Italia 90 the standard rate of income tax was a crippling 35% but ten years later it was a third less and the top rate was heading for 44%. Corporation tax which stood at 40% was cut savagely to just 12.5%.

For five years following Italia 90 the Irish economy grew 5% per year and then surged to 9% per year until 2000. The Tiger had begun, bookending with an economic depression, a severe three year economic contraction that started in 2008 and will lead to an austerity programme likely to last until 2012. But this time around could qualification to South Africa herald another economic revival? It would be great to think so but unhappily things aren’t that simple. There’s the little problem of the deficit and cutting our spending to fit our shrivelled tax base. Sounds like deja vu indeed, except this time around we’ve experienced far more comfortable lifestyles so our appetite to absorb pain isn’t what it used to be. Perhaps that explains the internecine warfare about who’ll carry the tab especially from the public sector unused to the idea of reversals of fortune and wedded to the fantasy that there’s another way to maintain a pay premium of at least 20% over the private sector and European competitors.

So roll on the French and onwards to South Africa but don’t kid yourself that the Ireland’s soccer team will add much to either the economy or the tournament. In Italia 90 Ireland qualified for the first time along with Costa Rica and the UAE but scored just two goals in normal play to get to the quarter finals. We drew with Holland, England, Egypt and beat Romania after a goalless draw on a  shoot-out just about six months after Romania shot Nicolae Andruţă Ceauşescu, the darling of the European ultra left. Sure, Irish supporters added enormous fun and colour but the team did its bit to contribute to the lowest scoring World Cup ever, a tournament with just one goal every 43 minutes. They banned the back pass to the keeper after that and I’d like to think we helped there too! For what it’s worth France didn’t qualify for Italia 90 and it would be nice to think they’ll sit this one out as well.