Ireland Is Killing Its Entrepreneurs
From The David McWilliams Podcast by David McWilliams & John Davis
April 30, 2026 · 41 min · Season 2026 · Episode 35
About this episode
The episode discusses the decline of young entrepreneurs in Ireland and the economic implications of this trend.
Ireland is now officially the worst country in Europe for young entrepreneurs. Just 5.1% of our 20-somethings are building their own businesses, less than half the rate in Slovakia. So what the hell happened? This week, we ask why young Irish people have stopped backing themselves, and why a country that looks rich on paper is quietly losing the very people who make economies dance. We get into the difference between wealth that's extracted (the multinationals) and wealth that's created (the Ryanairs), and why one is far more fragile than it looks. We bring in Schumpeter and Nassim Taleb, follow a hypothetical 27-year-old called Kiera as the numbers crush her before she's even begun, and ask whether Ireland has become a nation of doubters, quietly punishing anyone who dares to have a go. We float a fix: stop parking the multinational windfall in a pension fund our 25-year-olds will never see, and turn it into a startup fund they can actually use. Because without risk-takers, there's no return, and without return, there's no economy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
People in this episode
Hosts: David McWilliams, John Davis
Topics covered
- entrepreneurship
- youth
- economy
- Ireland
- multinationals
- wealth creation
- risk-taking
Keywords
- entrepreneurs
- Ireland
- youth entrepreneurship
- economy
- multinationals
- wealth creation
- risk-taking
- Nassim Taleb
- Schumpeter
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Ryanair, Schumpeter
Places: Ireland, Slovakia, Europe
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