Unit 2 & 4: Why is the UK helping Ireland?

The UK government announced yesterday that it would be lending the Irish £7 billion. I’ve now found a BBC news video which will illuminate this topic further…

A key argument could be the close inter-relatedness of our economies, a key point touched on in this video,

Evaluation points could be the opportunity cost of doing this, ie what could we do with this money instead? (although, of course, this is only a loan so long term the UK should benefit through interest payments!)

Hugh Pym from the BBC points out that UK exports to Ireland include financial services, food, paper, petrol and gas. And 40% of Northern Ireland exports go south of border. Ireland is the UKs fifth largest export market, above Spain, Italy and China.

Interesting stuff, which you may want to think about in prearation for next terms macro-economics stuff! See the issues facing Ireland in the charts below....