Ireland deserves a second look

MICHELLE Smythe unfairly criticises Andrew Wilson for not referring to the situation as regards Ireland when he points to the successes of other small nations (Letters, 23 ­December).

Earlier in 2012, the International Monetary Fund published its latest statistics for the relative wealth per head of different countries. For Ireland and the UK they paint a fascinating picture.

The figures are based on “purchasing power parity”, which allows us to make a fair comparison between the different countries, and they show that Ireland is wealthier per head than the UK.

Indeed, at no point in the financial crisis did Ireland drop below the UK. While it boasted a wealth per capita of over £39k, for the UK it was over £35k.

Later on in 2012, and the IMF estimated Ireland at over £40k per capita and for the UK was over £36k. And putting the IMF’s crystal ball to full use, let’s take a look at referendum year, 2014. Ireland will be over £44k per capita and the UK over £38k per head.

For Ireland, the wealth gap in 2010 saw the Irish still 4,148 “current international dollars” ahead of the UK in wealth per head and, according to the IMF, that Irish advantage will increase to 5,348 in 2014.

Not quite what you’d expect from listening to some of the rhetoric of the anti-Scottish independence parties. Perhaps Ms Smyth should go to Ireland, a small, independent country which is about to assume the presidency of the Council of the European Union and now, it seems, forms an arc of faster recovery.

Alex Orr, Edinburgh