It’s time for our leaders to make history

Afer the Brexit and Apple shocks, a step-change in the right direction is there for the taking

Sean Lemass made history by laying the groundwork for Ireland to become a broad-based service economy exporting across the globeGetty

Historic opportunity is unsurprisingly rare. For most policymakers most of the time, the mundane management of the humdrum is their likely lot. The opportunity to make a historic step-change in the direction of their country is confined to the fortunate few.

For Ireland, notwithstanding the necessarily humdrum measures announced last week, the unexpected confluence of recent events is now presenting such an opportunity. It needs to be grasped.

The Brexit vote was a ...