Social exclusion and adult engagement in Lifelong Learning—some comparative implications for European states based on Ireland's Celtic Tiger experience

Abstract

This paper provides an overview of some of the reasons for the extraordinary growth in what was traditionally seen as a peripheral economy on the Celtic fringe of North West Europe. Learning, innovation and social capital offer important clues behind the story of the Celtic Tiger. However, there is a downside to this story: Ireland continues to rank as one of the most unequal out of a group of 18 industrialised countries. Given the global emphasis on knowledge as central to the enhancement of opportunities at the individual and societal level, we focus on one crucially important equity dimension—that of opportunities for participation by the majority of the population, namely adults, in education and training. The question we pose is: to what extent does Ireland offer a model of a knowledge society for all, as opposed to a knowledge economy for some? We highlight a number of implications and questions which we regard as important for Lifelong Learning in Ireland and other members of the ‘new’ Europe seeking to find the ‘miracle’ formula for social and economic development.