An article in the economist on the irish economy argues, irish progress, both economic and fiscal, is typically measured using gdp but for an economy where foreign firms are so dominant, gnp is more relevant. source: fitter, yet fragile, economist, january 5, 2013. the authors reasoning is based on the fact that

GDP is the value of the total production of final goods and services produced within a country (in this case Ireland), while Gross National Product (GNP), in this specific case, is the value of the total production of final goods and services produced by residents of the Ireland (individuals or businesses).

Since several corporations have international headquarters in Ireland due to special tax regimes, e.g. Apple, Microsoft, Google, Intel, Pfizer, FB, etc., and many of those corporations manage all their world trade (except local trade in the US) through those offices, they are very large and wealthy.

c

explanation: