Economic tiger nations, prostrate yourselve when entering into the presence of an Irish citizen! In terms of global per capita wealth, the Republic of Ireland ranks second only to Japan.
A decade of soaring economic growth and property values has created 30,000 millionaires in a geographically small nation once synonymous with deprivation.
At €148,000 ($188,714; £102,451) the average annual income of the Irish now tops all but the industrious inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun.
According to a Bank of Ireland study, the globe's top eight nations in terms of net wealth per head are:
- Japan €205,675
- Ireland €148,130
- UK €137,277
- USA €128,810
- Italy €125,512
- France €103,476
- Germany €90,462
- Canada €85,147
Many of the nation's 4,062,235 predominantly Catholic citizenry might these days more closely identify with the character Undershaft in George Bernard Shaw's play Major Barbara, who declares: "I am a millionaire. That is my religion."
Data sourced from The Times Online (UK); additional content by WARC staff