Hibernian Evanescence: Globalisation, Identity and the Virtual Shamrock

Abstract

Starting with the open economy, economic liberalization and related issues around immigration to Ireland in the context of the "Celtic Tiger", the essay looks at theoretical matters around nationalism, ethnicity, the state, identity, and community with regard to postcolonial Ireland. It then goes on examine issues around some key cultural features of the Internet, and the way that the Internet interfaces with the globalizing tendencies in contemporary Ireland in terms of the paranational, "glocalization", virtual ethnicity, and transculturation. The conclusion is that the Internet hastens the breakdown of traditional analyses of Ireland and Irishness.