David McWilliams: Babies born in the most deprived areas of Northern Ireland will live considerably less healthy lives than children born in India. Poor people in the North have a “healthy” life expectancy on a par with those living in Sierra Leone.
One fascinating aspect about the social and economic evolution of Ireland is that the island comprises a type of economic laboratory. To the outsider, what we have on the island is the same people – more or less – with two different political jurisdictions: two different systems and two different outcomes. We also have 100 years of data to compare and contrast. For the economist, you couldn’t ask for more.
Going back further, Northern Ireland began with a huge economic advantage. Before 1921, the north of Ireland was much more prosperous than the south. It was an industrial powerhouse with 70 per cent of women in Belfast working in manufacturing and 32 per cent of men.. Guinness did most of the heavy lifting in Ireland, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of net industrial output.
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