The development of information and communications technologies (ICT) has facilitated the emergence of a complex global urban system in which many formerly lower-order cities have been carving out``niche'' specialist functions serving urban ®elds of transnational dimension. This is illustrated in the case of Dublin, which in recent years has been transcending its traditional role as IrelandÕs national metropolis through the development of a range of functions servicing mainly European markets. One such function comprises pan-European telephone call centre operations. The development and characteristics of this newly-emerging sector are described. It is argued that the growth of the sector con®rms DublinÕs ± and IrelandÕs ± dependent position in the international division of labour, and that its long-term sustainability is open to question. Ó

Abstract:The transition from Fordism to post-Fordism has been accompanied by profound changes in the spatiality of west European states. The hierarchical, top-down and redistributive structures that typified the Fordist welfare state have been replaced by more complex spatial configurations as elements of economic and political power have shifted both downwards to subnational territorial levels and upwards to the supranational level. A major debate has developed around the nature of these emerging forms of state spatiality and of the processes underpinning their formation. This paper examines how these processes have operated in the particular case of the Republic of Ireland. Here, the spatiality of the state was founded on a peculiar post-colonial combination of a localised populist politics and a centralised state bureaucracy. While this arrangement was quite suited to the spatial dispersal of industrial branch plants which underpinned regional policy in the 1960s and 1970s, it has become increasingly problematic with the more recent emergence of new trends in the nature and locational preferences of inward investment. This is reflected in the profound conflicts that have attended the formulation and implementation of the National Spatial Strategy, introduced in 2002. The result is a national space economy whose increasing dysfunctionality may now be compromising the very development model upon which Ireland's recent spectacular economic growth has been built.

This paper examines the resilience of Irish regions during the course of the post-2007 economic crisis, focusing specifically on employment change in firms in receipt of assistance from the Irish government's enterprise development agencies. The paper classifies both regions and sectors in terms of their employment performance both before and during the recession and employs a number of techniques to assess the roles of sectoral composition, firm nationality and other factors in shaping the recession's regional impact. While nationality mix is significant, sectoral composition is seen as having a more important impact on regional employment performance. Other factors also have an important role in some regions, but their precise nature remains unknown.

Devolution of powers and functions from national to regional level has been a common experience internationally in recent times. A range of possible driving forces underpinning this trend are reviewed. The city-region has become a favoured spatial unit for organising direct regional participation in global markets. New governance structures are being forged for mobilising joint cross-communuty action in pursuit of broad regional objectives. A range of influences can shape the configuration of these structures, giving rise to a varied geography of regional governance arrangements. This paper focuses on the dysfunctional governance structures which have inhibited the implementation of the National Spatial Strategy, introduced by the Irish government in 2002 with the objective of achieving balanced regional development through the creation of a polycentric system of city-regions. These structures are described and their origins attributed to features of the Irish system of government which favour administrative centralisation over devolution.

Abstract:The mobilisation of reserves of unskilled women workers played a key role in the new international division of labour which emerged in the 1960s and 1970s. This is illustrated in the case of the branch plant economy which emerged in the Republic of Ireland after 1960. There has been rapid growth in femaie employment in the electrical engineering sector'which is dominated by foreign firms. A case study of the eiectronics industry reveals strong gender segmentation and a heavy reliance on assembly work carried out mostly by women. High levels of trade union membership have had little impact on the inferior status of women in this industry. Dominance by foreign firms has created very limited employment opportunities for women at local level. The automation of assembly work, allied to plans to upgrade the status of branch plant activities in Ireland, will further restrict women's employment prospects.