This is the most recent offering from the man who wrote the best-selling nonfiction book in Ireland's history, The Pope's Children. First published in 2018, David McWilliams' Renaissance Nation (subtitled How the Pope's Children Rewrote the Rules for Ireland) picks up where that left off, examining trends in the Irish economy and society since the mid-2000s.
He looks at Ireland's explosion as a corporate hub, and also dives into the newfound resilience of Irish people in the absence of stifling religious conservatism. It is to these intertwining factors that he attributes the expanding middle class and prevailing liberal values in the country today. He essentially explains, as the blurb puts it, how we went "from economic embarrassment to avocado toast in the space of a generation."
In Renaissance Nation, McWilliams again uses composite characters to illustrate trends in Irish society. The affluent urban mother who has discovered that GAA is now cool is called Sliotar Mom. Gents attempting to outpace their mid-life crises on expensive racing bikes are christened MAMILs (Middle-Aged Men in Lycra). And so on.
Along with this satirical approach, though, comes an underlying insistence that Ireland is doing well, and that we have much cause for both pride and optimism. In an era when media, both social and traditional, is awash with negativity, this is a real breath of fresh air.
McWilliams has attracted criticism in the past for prioritizing flash over substance. While he retains a focus on entertainment here, and makes a fanciful assumption or two towards the end, he is careful to ground most of what he says in data. In any case, there's something to be said for a writer who can make macroeconomics genuinely amusing.
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