That’s the conclusion of The Fund for Peace who put the Republic fourth from bottom of their Failed State Index 2006 in 143rd place, behind only Norway, Sweden and Finland.
The survey is based on twelve failed state indicators, most of which would have applied to Ireland at some stage during the Twentieth Century. Several of them would still apply to Northern Ireland. That may be one reason why the UK (pointedly referred to in the index as the UK and N Ireland) is up at 130th place.
The UK’s worst scores were on indicators 3 (Legacy of Vengeance – Seeking Group Grievance) and 5 (Uneven Economic Development along Group Lines). The former certainly sounds like primarily a Northern Ireland issue.
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