The 1950s were a disastrous decade in Ireland. Unemployment, economic depression and intense emigration plagued the island. After such a period of desperation it was vital that the Irish were reassured that change was on the way. Sean Lemass, elected Taoiseach in 1959, announced this change. Working with his cabinet and some of Ireland's most eminent intellectuals, he managed to get Ireland back on its feet. As a result, the 1960s were a decade of massive reforms in the economic, political, social and cultural sectors of society. In the 1950s the Irish economy was stagnant. One of the most important economists of the decade was TK Whitaker. He believed that the Irish economy could be improved if foreign investors were given incentives to make them more confident in investing in Ireland, if there was greater participation by the State in investment in successful industries and if more central bank power was applied to direct investments. by commercial banks. Reforms like these would be necessary to stabilize the economy. Lemass, acting on Whitaker's advice, introduced the First Program for economic expansion. The programme, which lasted from 1959 to 1963, was crucial in getting the Irish economy back on track. It included a detailed plan for the economy with the ultimate goal of bringing the growth rate up to 2%. The main points of the plan, according to Tony White, in his book Investing in People: Higher Education in Ireland from 1960 to 2000, were “i. Attraction of foreign investment ii. Elimination of controls on foreign ownership of businesses and repatriation of profits, iii. Introduction of capital and other subsidies to new and expanding businesses, and iv. Tax breaks on corporate profits for exporting companies". As a result... half of the paper... Ireland's design problems dividing the industry into distinct sections such as textiles, engineering and fashion. Additionally, young Irish designers had the opportunity to work abroad with the Design Advisory Committee established by the CTT in 1969. As a result of the CTT's initiatives, business and manufacturing environments were exposed to a higher level of design awareness than ever. The 1960s can certainly be considered a golden age in Ireland. The economic, political, social and cultural reforms introduced were fundamental in bringing the country out of the depression. The massive decrease in emigration highlighted this change in times. The emigration rate in the 1960s was only 15,000 per year, nothing compared to the 500,000 who had left the country in the previous decade. Evidently the Irish began to believe in their country again.