Bolger uses Henry's sleight of hand as a metaphor for the deceptions practised on Irish people during the Celtic Tiger. After emigrating to seek work in the 1980s - a journey charted in Bolger's earlier classic play, In High Germany - Eoin made a new life in Germany. In this standalone sequel, Eoin returns to Ireland with his wife and son at the height of the boom, and just in time for the bust. The Parting Glass reflects the recurrent pattern of emigration amongst Ireland's young generations - a cycle recently considered broken forever