Irish Culture

The business etiquette of Ireland is that which will be quite familiar to us in America, as it shares a lot of practices with the western world. They also value a lot of the same things such as a certain expected level of formality and having a similar value for relationships and trust when conducting business. They also tend to expect business meetings to begin by shaking hands with everyone present and a short period of small talk to get to know each other or catch up before conducting business. It is also common practice for many meetings to take place within a pub or a restaurant as it’s most important to socialize and build a rapport, since the agendas often come second to these chances to strengthen these relationships as many in Ireland are of the belief that “the work gets done because of the relationships” (Nakayama). However, for more formal meetings held in an office or other professional setting where these moments for small talk will be shorter and higher standards of conduct will be maintained. Irish culture also values punctuality, as being late in the business world can show a sign of disrespect for other’s time.

The economy of Ireland is one that goes through many fluctuations as “The economic history of Ireland over the past century is one of persistent failure followed by a spectacular recovery” (Ó Gráda). This was due to a number of factors, but Ireland is currently going through a strong growth period for their economy, with their main exports being pharmaceuticals, organic chemicals, and various manufactured articles and machinery.