Compiling this edition devoted to Ireland specifically the twenty-six county Republic of Ireland, has been possible for a number of reasons. First, since the mid to late 1980s, there has been a broadening of the focus of historical research in Irish universities beyond the national project, state-making and nation-building. Second, although there were extensive repositories of business and other relevant archives in Ireland, not least in the Public Record Office in Northern Ireland (PRONI) which became a "byword for administrative efficiency and an enlightened collections policy", it was not u.