Professor Terrence McDonough:

Yes, I certainly think the Administrations immediately previous to that one would not be considered neoliberal in that they had very high levels of expenditure and were associated with high levels of tax. The tax levels were not high enough to cover the expenditure. Previous to 1987 the Irish regime was a more typically Keynesian one rather than a neoliberal one. That would be true across the board in North America and Europe as well.