Ireland has an open economy that was doing well up unitil 2008, when their economy crashed and sent Ireland into recession. Before the big economic crash occured, Ireland had a very booming economy. They were known as the Celtic Tiger because they were able to reduce inflation, exxport a lot, and make investments with high tech companies. In 2010 Ireland accepted a loan of $112 billion from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. The loan was given to the country in order to help get Ireland out of a state of recession. Agriculture has always played a big role in Ireland's economy, but currently on 5% of Ireland's populations works in the agriculture industry. Ireland still does have a good agricutlure industry and produces crops such as: potatoes, turnips, barley wheat. Now, Ireland relies mostly on industry and technolgy. They rely a lot on the production of textiles, chemicals, and machinery. Tourism also plays a big role in Ireland's economy.