There’s a letter in today’s Irish Times from Dublin Chamber of Commerce. As it’s a subscription site I’m unsure about copyright, but essentially the same message is delivered here.
The Greater Dublin Area accounts for about HALF of all national output and TWO in every five jobs in the country. As a city-region, it is a driver of economic growth, innovation and employment for the whole island.

Dublin’s competitors are not other regions in Ireland, but rather international city-regions from Boston to Bangalore. This competition for investment in jobs is based on having the proper infrastructure to reduce costs and raise living standards – and the Greater Dublin Area is falling behind!
The letter stresses that theme that Dublin is not competing with other Irish regions, repeating the message given at the launch of the last IDA annual report that foreign direct investment goes to city regions with a population of more than a million people. Dublin is the only Irish city capable of offering that scale. Hamstring the city and cut off our own nose.

Yet, much of the the rhetoric of regional debate is about hamstringing the city and denying it investment as if this will cause prosperity to go to Tobercurry instead of just head abroad.

Any suggestions for how this perennial block on Irish development created by the regional mindset might be mitigated?