E4 · cycle-002.e4-irl

Ireland, scripted, 30 years from 1996

30 simulations of 30 rounds from the 1996 position. Ireland decides by the scripted method; scripted events: Global funding seizure in year 12, Debt service reset in year 17, Trade bloc rupture in year 24, Severe pandemic in year 24.

Model 0.1.0 · graph 0.2.0 · parameters 0.1.0 · seeds 1–30 · elasticity sampled within each bracket

The same configuration in other cycles: cycle 3.

Every simulation · Compare with another experiment · More experiments like this

Not a forecast
Simulations of a structural model with seed parameter values, to compare methods and test the model. Other nations stay at their 2026 ratings throughout.

Outcome across simulations

The median at 2026, with the 10th to the 90th percentile of the 30 simulations under it.

Capability index
12.10 (+0.17)
From 11.93; 12.09 to 12.11
Rank by index
28
From 29; 28 to 28
Domains at Tier 1
5
From 1; 5 to 5
Tier rank
3
From 19; 3 to 3

Capability index by round

Rank by index, by round

Every objective at the position and at the horizon
Objective199610th percentileMedian90th percentileBetter
Capability indexprimary11.9312.0912.1012.11higher
Rank by index29282828lower
Tier rank19333lower
Domains at Tier 11555higher
Score sum846.3859.0859.6860.4higher
Goal-weighted score846.3859.0859.6860.4higher
Resilient score846.3859.6 (mean score sum over the simulations)higher

The capability index is the mean of the three dimensions, each the mean of its domains, each the mean of its groups. Tiers are Pareto layers within each domain; the tier rank orders nations by domains held at Tier 1, then Tier 2, and so on. The goal-weighted score is the score sum unless the experiment sets a goal. The primary objective is the one the experiment is judged on; every other objective is reported beside it.

Credits

What each round’s credits went on in the median simulation. Across all simulations, build took 83 per cent, buy took 0 per cent, partner took 17 per cent of the 2,939 credits a simulation spent on actions.

Against history

Started from a reconstructed 1996 position and played along the pathway and shocks Ireland actually had, then scored against the 2026 ratings. The position is an estimate, so part of any error is the reconstruction's. The calibration summary across all fifty nations is on the cycle's page under Loop.

Index 1996
11.93
reconstructed
Observed 2026
12.08
the Index's rating
Simulated 2026
12.10
12.04 to 12.16
Skill against persistence
−0.65
group error 2.18 against 1.32 if nothing changed
Domain1996ObservedSimulatedBiasDirection
Critical Technology8.337.147.88 7.8–7.9+0.74right
Strategic Infrastructure12.0111.6113.33 13.3–13.4+1.72wrong
National Security6.424.315.94 5.9–6.0+1.63right
Human Capital13.1414.9714.07 14.0–14.1−0.91right
Information & Influence13.0212.4411.45 11.4–11.5−0.99right
Governance & Integrity14.2615.0714.52 14.5–14.6−0.55right
Financial Strength13.0014.3815.32 15.3–15.4+0.94right
Production & Innovation13.1714.2513.33 13.3–13.4−0.92wrong
Trade & Investment14.0214.5113.04 12.9–13.1−1.47wrong

The history it was played under: shocks and events

  • 2008 · S02 × 1.3 The global financial crisis burst Ireland's property bubble, froze bank funding and led to the bank guarantee and EU/IMF bailout.
  • 2013 · S11 × 0.5 Ireland exited the EU/IMF programme and regained market access, releasing fiscal capacity.
  • 2020 · S01 × 0.8 The UK left the EU single market and customs union, disrupting Irish-UK trade, supply chains and Northern Ireland border arrangements.
  • 2020 · S10 × 0.9 COVID-19 caused repeated lockdowns, hospital strain and school closures, but Ireland's response avoided the most severe mortality scenario.

The pathway: what it prioritised, period by period

  • 1997–2001 · partner · 5% each The Celtic Tiger strategy used IDA Ireland to attract US multinationals while EU structural funds and the National Development Plan upgraded infrastructure and skills. (Investment Attraction & Projection, Fiscal Capacity & Public Finance, Advanced Education, Transport Infrastructure, Communications & Digital Infrastructure)
  • 2002–2007 · build · 5% each Euro adoption and the second National Development Plan expanded roads, housing and Science Foundation Ireland research while the IFSC deepened financial services. (Monetary & Currency Capability, Financial System Depth & Access, Transport Infrastructure, Social Infrastructure, Innovation & Commercialisation)
  • 2008–2013 · build · 5% each The banking and sovereign debt crisis forced bank recapitalisation, the EU/IMF programme, fiscal consolidation and public-sector reform. (Financial Stability & Crisis Management, Fiscal Capacity & Public Finance, Labour & Employment, Government Effectiveness & Public Administration, Financial Regulation & Integrity)
  • 2014–2019 · build · 5% each Recovery policy pursued FDI, R&D, digital skills and renewable energy while housing shortages re-emerged. (Investment Attraction & Projection, Innovation & Commercialisation, Digital & AI Competence, Energy Technologies, Social Infrastructure)
  • 2020–2023 · build · 5% each COVID-19 demanded health surge capacity, remote public services and stronger cyber defences while Brexit required trade adjustment. (National Resilience & Crisis Management, Health System Capability, Connectivity, Cyber & Trust Technologies, Digital & Services Trade, Government Effectiveness & Public Administration)
  • 2024–2026 · build · 2% each Post-pandemic Ireland prioritised housing, renewable energy, modest defence modernisation and continued digital and connectivity investment. (Social Infrastructure, Energy Technologies, Force Generation & Mobilisation, Digital & AI Competence, Communications & Digital Infrastructure)

Reconstruction notes (deepseek-v4-pro): The main uncertainties concern the attribution of multinational activity in Ireland to national capability, especially in semiconductors, biopharmaceuticals and financial services, where foreign-owned plants and IFSC firms account for much of the measured activity. Military and security scores are inferred from a small, neutral state with very limited expeditionary capacity, so exact calibration is approximate. The boundaries between Irish and EU policy, particularly in trade, monetary and regulatory governance, blur the national score in several domains.

Report

Written from the simulation record by the loop's narrator. Every figure names the query it came from, in square brackets.

Batch cycle-002. Model 0.1.0, graph 0.2.0, parameters 0.1.0. 30 simulations, seeds 1 to 30; probes on 10. Every figure is a distribution over simulations of a structural model with seed parameter values; it shows what the model implies under these settings, not what will happen. Other nations are frozen at their 2026 ratings. No reconstructed historical data is used in this experiment.

Headline

Ireland played 30 rounds from 1996 under the scripted method, with scripted events, 30 times. Its capability index moved from 11.93 to a median of 12.10 (+0.17), with 90 per cent of simulations between 12.09 and 12.11 [experiment_objectives].

Starting position

In 1996 the nation ranks 29 on the index against the frozen field, holds 1 of nine domains at Tier 1 and has a tier rank of 19. Its base income is 379 credits a year, calibrated so that its 2026 position is affordable with headroom for investment.

What was decided

A simulation spent a median of 2,935 credits on moves. The five groups that took most were Social Infrastructure (build, 294 credits, 10.0 per cent); Innovation & Commercialisation (build, 268 credits, 9.1 per cent); Government Effectiveness & Public Administration (build, 177 credits, 6.0 per cent); Digital & AI Competence (build, 165 credits, 5.6 per cent); Energy Technologies (build, 165 credits, 5.6 per cent) [experiment_decisions_by_group]. By mode: build 83 per cent, partner 17 per cent [experiment_decisions_by_group]. Concentration of spending (HHI) had a median of 0.062, and the most repeated action appeared in 50 per cent of rounds.

The leading domain by period: rounds 1 to 5, Strategic Infrastructure; rounds 6 to 10, Financial Strength; rounds 11 to 15, Financial Strength; rounds 16 to 20, Financial Strength; rounds 21 to 25, Human Capital; rounds 26 to 30, Human Capital [experiment_spend_by_period].

What the world did

A median simulation saw 3 shocks and 1 upside events. The most damaging per firing were S01 (30 firings in 30 simulations, −35.2 points each); S02 (30 firings in 30 simulations, −34.6 points each); S10 (30 firings in 30 simulations, −31.0 points each) [experiment_shocks]. Upside events fired 30 times across all simulations [experiment_shocks].

The groups that lost most to shocks, per simulation: Fiscal Capacity & Public Finance −2.78; Economic Leverage & Dependence −2.76; Investment Attraction & Projection −2.74; Export Capability & Sophistication −2.67 [experiment_shock_damage_by_group].

The edges that carried most change through the graph, per simulation: Transport Infrastructure to Trade Facilitation & Logistics (+1.28 points); Fiscal Capacity & Public Finance to Social Infrastructure (+0.50 points); Fiscal Capacity & Public Finance to Force Generation & Mobilisation (+0.30 points) [experiment_propagation_by_edge].

Where it ended

At 2026 the median rank is 28 (5th to 95th percentile 28 to 28), the median count of Tier 1 domains 5 (5 to 5) and the median tier rank 3; the resilient score, the mean score sum over simulations, is 860 [experiment_objectives].

Tier 1 probability changed most in: governance and integrity (0 to 100 per cent of simulations); human capital (0 to 100 per cent of simulations); information and influence (100 to 0 per cent of simulations); production and innovation (0 to 100 per cent of simulations); strategic infrastructure (0 to 100 per cent of simulations) [experiment_tiers_by_round].

Why

Without shocks the index ends +1.311 higher on average, so the shocks cost about 1.311 index points [experiment_probe_attribution].

Holding instead of following this method changes the index by −2.028: that is the method's worth against doing nothing [experiment_probe_attribution].

Removing any single one of the five largest actions changes the index by between −0.004 and +0.008, for example 2018 build Investment Attraction & Projection (24 credits) [experiment_probe_attribution]. The largest actions by credits come late, when income is highest, and are rarely the most valuable.

Removing the largest shock of a simulation raises the index by +0.561 on average [experiment_probe_attribution].

The replay probe reproduces the simulations exactly (index change 0.000000), so the attributions are clean [experiment_probe_attribution].

Surprises

tier_jump (warn): largest gain in one domain within five years: 7 tiers (30 simulations above 2).

saturation_high (warn): 100% of simulations end with a group at 20 that did not start there (median 1 groups).

retired_words (warn): e4-irl/report.md: 'simulations' 2 time(s), first near line 39; use 'simulations'.

The simulation furthest from the median (seed 15) ends −0.02 from it, with 3 shocks and 1 upside events [experiment_outlier_simulations].

Comparison

This is the baseline (hold) experiment, or there is none for this nation in the batch.

Against history: from a reconstructed index of 11.93 the model ends at 12.10, where the 2026 ratings put it at 12.08. Group scores miss by 2.18 points on average, against 1.32 for assuming nothing changed (skill −0.65); the change in each domain has the right sign in 67 per cent of domains. Furthest below history: trade and investment (−1.47); furthest above: strategic infrastructure (+1.72) [experiment_against_history]. The starting position is reconstructed, so part of the error is the reconstruction's.

What each decision and shock was worth

Counterfactual probes on the first 10 seeds: the same simulations with one thing changed, paired seed by seed. A removed decision or shock is taken out and the other decisions replayed unchanged, so the difference is that item's worth.

ProbeIndexScore sumTier 1For example
Hold instead of the method−2.028−140.8−5.00
No shocks+1.311+88.1+2.00
Replay of the recorded actions (must change nothing)0.0000.00.00
Without the 1st largest decision+0.008+0.60.002018 build Investment Attraction & Projection (24 credits)
Without the 2nd largest decision+0.003+0.40.002018 build Innovation & Commercialisation (24 credits)
Without the 3rd largest decision+0.008+0.60.002018 build Digital & AI Competence (24 credits)
Without the 4th largest decision−0.004−0.40.002018 build Energy Technologies (24 credits)
Without the 5th largest decision+0.007+0.50.002018 build Social Infrastructure (24 credits)
Without the 1st largest shock+0.561+39.2+1.002020 S01 (-35.2 points)
Without the 2nd largest shock+0.418+26.3+1.002008 S02 (-34.6 points)
Without the 3rd largest shock+0.430+30.3+1.002020 S10 (-31.0 points)

Simulations

Three simulations told round by round, each on its own page: the one nearest the median index at the horizon, and those nearest the 10th and the 90th percentile. Every one of the 30 is listed with its outcome on the simulations page.

All 30 simulations

Events

How often each shock and upside event began across the simulations. Shocks come from the ten downside scenarios and upside events from the ten upside ones, at their yearly likelihood.

Event
Kind
Simulations
Mean round
Points
Trade bloc rupture S01Shock100 per cent24.0−35.2
Global funding seizure S02Shock100 per cent12.0−34.6
Severe pandemic S10Shock100 per cent24.0−31.0
Debt service reset S11Upside100 per cent17.0+0.2

Groups across simulations

Every capability group: its position, and its median and spread at the horizon across the simulations, with what the method spent on it.

73 of 73 groups

Capability group
Domain
1996
2026
Change
Levels invested
Credits
Transport InfrastructureStrategic Infrastructure11.4018.98 18.94 to 19.03+7.587.95226
Energy TechnologiesCritical Technology6.3613.25 13.22 to 13.27+6.898.01165
Digital & AI CompetenceHuman Capital13.3920.00 20.00 to 20.00+6.619.75165
Social InfrastructureStrategic Infrastructure13.4319.84 19.79 to 19.92+6.416.91294
Innovation & CommercialisationProduction & Innovation13.0819.33 19.28 to 19.39+6.257.56269
Government Effectiveness & Public AdministrationGovernance & Integrity14.8819.51 19.31 to 19.68+4.635.73177
Communications & Digital InfrastructureStrategic Infrastructure14.2118.19 18.16 to 18.21+3.984.71122
Financial Stability & Crisis ManagementFinancial Strength12.8416.46 16.38 to 16.55+3.625.69130
Labour & EmploymentProduction & Innovation12.1615.77 15.73 to 15.82+3.616.24130
Investment Attraction & ProjectionTrade & Investment15.3918.95 18.94 to 18.98+3.567.03237
Fiscal Capacity & Public FinanceFinancial Strength14.3617.56 17.47 to 17.65+3.206.20227
Financial Regulation & IntegrityFinancial Strength13.9317.07 17.02 to 17.14+3.145.28130
Monetary & Currency CapabilityFinancial Strength12.7915.91 15.85 to 15.98+3.125.33129
Advanced EducationHuman Capital14.6617.64 17.58 to 17.68+2.983.5697
Connectivity, Cyber & Trust TechnologiesCritical Technology10.5213.41 13.38 to 13.43+2.894.2465
Financial System Depth & AccessFinancial Strength13.6616.53 16.53 to 16.54+2.874.90129
National Resilience & Crisis ManagementGovernance & Integrity13.4916.36 16.28 to 16.45+2.873.5684
Health System CapabilityHuman Capital12.9515.57 15.43 to 15.77+2.623.4476
Digital & Services TradeTrade & Investment15.0817.41 17.26 to 17.50+2.333.7664
Force Generation & MobilisationNational Security9.489.80 9.72 to 9.87+0.320.5825
Nuclear DeterrenceNational Security0.000.00 0.00 to 0.000.000.000
Research Talent & Knowledge CreationHuman Capital12.0411.84 11.74 to 11.91−0.200.000
Energy InfrastructureStrategic Infrastructure10.6110.30 10.11 to 10.45−0.310.000
Water, Sanitation & Waste InfrastructureStrategic Infrastructure11.8811.52 11.43 to 11.61−0.360.000
Cyber & Electromagnetic OperationsNational Security8.127.74 7.68 to 7.78−0.380.000
Joint Command, Projection & SustainmentNational Security7.487.09 7.02 to 7.14−0.390.000
Foundational EducationHuman Capital14.9114.51 14.33 to 14.68−0.400.000
Financial InfrastructureStrategic Infrastructure14.6414.04 13.94 to 14.20−0.600.000
Lifelong Learning & ReskillingHuman Capital11.1910.57 10.52 to 10.61−0.620.000
Maritime PowerNational Security7.366.72 6.71 to 6.74−0.640.000
Resource InfrastructureStrategic Infrastructure8.828.17 8.09 to 8.22−0.650.000
Land PowerNational Security7.737.07 7.06 to 7.09−0.660.000
Intelligence & AssessmentNational Security8.657.98 7.95 to 8.02−0.670.000
Air PowerNational Security6.325.63 5.61 to 5.66−0.690.000
Technical & Vocational SkillsHuman Capital11.7410.97 10.96 to 10.99−0.770.000
Internal Security & OrderGovernance & Integrity14.0513.27 13.23 to 13.32−0.780.000
Strategic Strike & Missile DefenceNational Security4.513.72 3.66 to 3.77−0.790.000
Early Childhood DevelopmentHuman Capital14.7013.90 13.88 to 13.94−0.800.000
Public Integrity & Anti-CorruptionGovernance & Integrity14.3913.56 13.52 to 13.60−0.830.000
Space, Aerospace & Defence InfrastructureStrategic Infrastructure6.445.60 5.54 to 5.64−0.840.000
Agriculture & Food InfrastructureStrategic Infrastructure14.6613.77 13.75 to 13.81−0.890.000
Transparency, Oversight & AccountabilityGovernance & Integrity14.3613.46 13.45 to 13.47−0.900.000
Space OperationsNational Security4.583.67 3.61 to 3.72−0.910.000
Political Institutions & Civic ParticipationGovernance & Integrity14.7913.87 13.85 to 13.89−0.920.000
Justice System & Fundamental RightsGovernance & Integrity14.0913.17 13.15 to 13.18−0.920.000
Technology Adoption & DiffusionProduction & Innovation13.6612.68 12.54 to 12.81−0.980.000
Culture, Language & Education DiplomacyInformation & Influence14.9913.95 13.84 to 14.07−1.040.000
Population HealthHuman Capital12.6811.61 11.59 to 11.63−1.070.000
Regulatory Governance & Strategic ControlsGovernance & Integrity14.0512.98 12.96 to 13.02−1.070.000
Advanced ManufacturingStrategic Infrastructure13.9712.88 12.83 to 12.94−1.090.000
Trade Facilitation & LogisticsTrade & Investment13.7912.59 12.29 to 12.94−1.200.000
Diaspora & Global CommunitiesInformation & Influence16.9115.66 15.64 to 15.70−1.250.000
Development Cooperation & Global AssistanceInformation & Influence11.6010.18 10.11 to 10.24−1.420.000
Business Dynamism & EntrepreneurshipProduction & Innovation14.5313.10 13.00 to 13.19−1.430.000
Artificial IntelligenceCritical Technology9.888.40 8.34 to 8.44−1.480.000
Quantum TechnologiesCritical Technology5.784.29 4.28 to 4.31−1.490.000
Alliances & Security CooperationInformation & Influence10.488.88 8.84 to 8.93−1.600.000
Space TechnologiesCritical Technology3.531.93 1.92 to 1.94−1.600.000
Robotics & Autonomous SystemsCritical Technology8.236.63 6.60 to 6.66−1.600.000
Sensing, Timing & NavigationCritical Technology6.584.84 4.76 to 4.91−1.740.000
Information Environment & Strategic CommunicationInformation & Influence12.9110.95 10.93 to 10.97−1.960.000
Structural Transformation & ComplexityProduction & Innovation13.3011.33 11.28 to 11.38−1.970.000
Semiconductors & Advanced ComputingCritical Technology10.658.65 8.63 to 8.66−2.000.000
Advanced Materials & ManufacturingCritical Technology9.697.68 7.67 to 7.69−2.010.000
Sovereign Capital & External Financial PowerFinancial Strength10.408.37 8.33 to 8.42−2.030.000
Economic Output & ProductivityProduction & Innovation12.3910.34 10.25 to 10.47−2.050.000
Diplomatic Statecraft & Global NetworksInformation & Influence11.209.10 9.06 to 9.14−2.100.000
Industrial & Sectoral BaseProduction & Innovation13.0710.74 10.71 to 10.78−2.330.000
Biotechnology & Health TechnologiesCritical Technology12.109.73 9.71 to 9.74−2.370.000
Global Value Chain PositionTrade & Investment15.2612.48 12.45 to 12.51−2.780.000
Export Capability & SophisticationTrade & Investment12.9310.07 9.99 to 10.15−2.860.000
Trade Policy & Market AccessTrade & Investment15.3312.42 12.36 to 12.51−2.910.000
Economic Leverage & DependenceTrade & Investment10.347.35 7.29 to 7.40−2.990.000

Checks

The automated checks run on this experiment before anything was written about it. A warning is a candidate finding for the improvement loop.

  • passcredits_conservedlargest gap between credits in and credits accounted for: 1.1e-13
  • passscores_in_boundsscores range 0.000 to 20.000
  • passno_nans0 missing values in the trajectory and objectives
  • passprobe_replay_reproducesthe recorded moves played back reproduce the simulation to within 0.0e+00 points (10 simulations)
  • passledger_balancesthe edge ledger sums to the propagated change to within 1.0e-06 points
  • passmove_without_shocklargest one-year move in a group with no shock landing: 1.82 points; 0% of simulations have one above 3
  • warntier_jumplargest gain in one domain within five years: 7 tiers (30 simulations above 2)
  • passall_tier1_from_outside_top10starting rank 29; 0 simulations reach Tier 1 in all nine domains
  • warnsaturation_high100% of simulations end with a group at 20 that did not start there (median 1 groups)
  • passsaturation_low0% of simulations end with a group at 0 that did not start there (median 0 groups)
  • passspend_concentrationmedian concentration of spending across groups (HHI) 0.062; most funded group hard.strategic_infrastructure.social_infrastructure
  • passsame_actionthe most repeated move (group and mode) appears in a median 50% of rounds

Settings and versions

Experiment cycle-002.e4-irl. Every simulation records the model, graph and parameter versions, the scenario, the method and its seed, so it can be reproduced exactly.

Nation
Ireland (IRL)
Position
A reconstructed 1996 position, aligned to the Index's scale
Method
Scripted. Actions fixed in advance by the experiment: for a backcast, the nation's historical pathway.
Scenario
Scripted events: Global funding seizure in year 12, Debt service reset in year 17, Trade bloc rupture in year 24, Severe pandemic in year 24
Objective
Capability index, the primary objective the experiment is judged on; every other objective is reported beside it
Horizon
30 rounds, 1996 to 2026
Simulations
30 seeds, 1 to 30. Every method in the batch faces the same draws for the same seed.
Graph elasticities
Drawn for each simulation, uniformly within each edge’s bracket
Income
Base credits 378.6 a round, moving with the economic groups
Versions
Model 0.1.0, Capability Dependency Graph 0.2.0, parameters 0.1.0
Batch
Backcast 1996-2026 (cycle-002), cycle 2 of the improvement loop
Runtime
4.6 seconds in all; 1172 microseconds a round
Not a forecast
Every figure is a distribution over the simulations of a structural model, reported to compare methods and test the model. None is a prediction of what a nation will do or become.
Structural parameters
Costs, decay, vulnerability and credits are structural seed values with low or medium confidence, set by domain with single-group exceptions. Five groups have no defensible value in a single-nation model and are flagged in the parameter tables.
Other nations are frozen
One nation is simulated at a time. Every other nation stays at its 2026 rating, so rank and tiers are measured against a still field; where the simulated nation rises past others their own tiers are not re-sorted.
Starting depth and mode are defaults
The position is the National Capability Index ratings. How institutionalised each capability is, and how much was built, bought or partnered, have no data behind them yet and start from structural defaults.
Credits are calibrated, not measured
Each nation’s income is set so that its position is affordable with headroom that rises with its fiscal capacity. It is not yet fiscal capacity as a share of GDP.