Tax Haven Ireland

This is the story of how a small island on the edge of Europe became one of the world’s major tax havens. From global corporations such as Apple and Google, to investment bankers and mainstream politicians, those taking advantage of Ireland’s pro-business tax laws and shadow banking system have amassed untold riches at enormous social cost to ordinary people at home and abroad.
Tax Haven Ireland uncovers the central players in this process and exposes the coverups employed by the Irish state, with the help of accountants, lawyers, and financial services companies. From the lucrative internet porn industry to corruption in the property market, this issue distorts the economy across the state and in the wider international system, and its history runs deep, going back the country’s origins as a British colonial outpost.
Today, in the wake of Brexit and in the shadow of yet another economic crash, what can be done to prevent such dangerous behaviour and reorganize our economies to invest in the people? Can Ireland – and all of us – build an alternative economy based on fairness and democratic values?

An exposé of how incredible wealth is funnelled through a country without benefiting its people

Brian O’Boyle lectures in economics at St Angela College, National University of Ireland, Galway. He has published widely on the global economy and is the co-author of Austerity Ireland (Pluto 2013).
Kieran Allen is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at University College Dublin. His books include 1916: Ireland's Revolutionary Tradition (2016) and The Politics of James Connolly (2016).

1. Porn, Tax Dodging and Exploitation
2. Global Plunder
3. Making Treasure Ireland
4. Dirty Secrets
5. The Fixers
6. The Irish Financial Services Centre
7. Foreign Direct Avoiders
8. The Vultures Have Landed
9. The Case for the Defence
10. How Tax Dodging Harms Irish Society