During the 1920s and 1930s unemployment was high in Ireland. Furthermore many people lived in overcrowded conditions. As a result emigration continued. However things slowly improved. In the years 1925-1929 the government created a hydro-electricity scheme called the Shannon scheme. By 1943 all the towns in Ireland had electricity. So did most of the villages. In the 1930s the government tried to help the unemployed with a road-building scheme. Furthermore some industry developed in Ireland at that time.
In 1937 a new constitution made an elected president head of state. Furthermore the name 'Irish Free State' was replaced with either Eire or Ireland. Then in 1948 Ireland was made a republic and the last ties with Britain were cut.
In the 1930s Ireland fought an 'economic war' with Britain. Before 1922 many tenant farmers borrowed money from the British government to buy their farms. As part of the treaty of 1922 the Irish state was to collect this money and pass it on to the British. However in 1932 de Valera stopped paying. In response the British imposed a tariff of 20% on Irish goods. This caused great harm to the Irish cattle trade. However de Valera imposed import duties on British goods such as coal. He hoped Ireland would become economically self-sufficient and Irish industries would develop. In reality the war hurt both sides. In 1935 they made a coal-cattle pact, which made trade in the two commodities easier. In 1938 a general trade treaty brought the economic war to an end.
IRELAND IN THE LATE 20th CENTURY