This title was first published in 2002: Roisin Doherty provides an innovative insight into European security policy by concentrating on Ireland through an analysis of compatibility of Irish neutrality with security integration. She also analyzes the factors influencing security integration. This contemporary analysis of neutrality also deals with the development of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and examines the factors pushing forward the development of EU security policy. A specialized text suitable for undergraduate and post-graduate courses in international relations, European studies and administrative studies, this stimulating volume will appeal to those interested in the European Union, Irish foreign policy, neutrality and the CFSP in general.
Ireland’s relationship with the European Union has been determined by the behaviour, actions and discourse of political parties. This book examines this impact through an in-depth analysis of the Europeanization of party politics in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. First, it presents original research on cross-cutting issues that have featured in political debates about European integration, including referendum campaigns on EU treaties, Irish neutrality and party policy positions on the EU. Secondly, it is the first book of its kind to examine in detail how each of the main parties on the island of Ireland has adapted to EU membership. In doing so it both tests the thesis of ‘Europeanization’ and deepens understanding of the impact that EU membership can have on national and sub-national party politics. What this study reveals is that, while Europeanization is clearly evident in all parties in Ireland, including those most critical of European integration, its influence has been strictly curtailed. We argue that the effects of Europeanization in Irish party politics have been limited by enduring resistance to – and conditions placed upon – EU influence in particular policy areas, the importance of pragmatism and (sub-)national priorities in shaping parties’ approaches to European integration and the fact that engagement with the EU continues to be a predominantly elite-led process. This book was published as a special issue of Irish Political Studies.
Seminar paper from the year 2019 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: International relations, grade: 1,0, University of Rostock, language: English, abstract: This work takes a look at how small states are characterized in the political science discipline of international relations, and what kinds of strategies they use to secure their interests in a globalized world. With the example of Ireland as a small and classically neutral state, the focus thereby lays on the foreign policy strategy of neutrality. Why do small European states adopt a neutral foreign policy and how does this strategy influence the development of the state? To understand the theoretical background of this theme and to get a clear understanding of the term, first the theoretical concept of small states in international relations needs to be explained in a small overview including various definitions and approaches regarding their foreign policy. Proceeding from a review of their different strategies, the specific neutral strategy gets examined depending the the early political-historical background, different kinds of neutrality and neutrality rights. This will then be applied to the specific Irish case. More in-depth focused here is the question: can the Irish foreign policy in the 21st century still be phrased as neutral and what consequences are entailed in the answer? To achieve this, there is the need for an analysis of the Irish neutrality concept and it's development. This will be done in the third part of this work by reviewing the political-historical background of the Irish derivation of the neutrality concept and later also taking into account the latest white paper regarding Ireland's foreign policy from 2015. Also a glance at the meso-level in form of the Irish participation in international organizations like the European Union will be helpful to evaluate Ireland's degree of neutrality. At the end, cases of neutrality conflicts are gonna be pointed out and discussed in regard to the research question.
How has it been possible for Irish political leaders to actively promote two of the largest challenges to Irish nation-statehood: the concession of sovereignty to the European Union and the retraction of the constitutional claim over Northern Ireland? The author of this book argues that such discourses are integrally connected and, what is more, embody the enduring relevance of nationalism in modern Ireland. As the most comprehensive study to date of official discourse in twentieth-century Ireland, this book traces the ways in which nationalism can be simultaneously redefined and revitalised through European integration. The text begins with an overview of the origins and development of Irish official nationalism. It then analyses the redefinition of this nationalism in meeting the challenges to Irish nation-statehood posed by the conflict in Northern Ireland and membership of the EU. New interpretations of the symbolic and practical importance of the island of Ireland have been central to this process. Indeed, the genius of the Irish was to employ innovative EU-inspired concepts in finding agreement with and within Northern Ireland on the one hand whilst, on the other, legitimising further European integration through the notion that it furthers traditional nationalist ideals such as Irish unity. Thus, Irish political leaders were remarkably successful in not only accommodating potent nationalist and pro-European discourses but in making them appear complementary. An over-reliance on this discourse, however, plus a critical failure to adjust it to the conditions it helped to fashion, contributed to the failure of the ‘Yes’ campaigns in the Irish referendums on the EU Treaties of Nice and Lisbon. The book concludes with an assessment of the reasons for these results and argues that the symbiotic relationship between Irish nationalism and European integration can be redeemed for a new era in EU–member-state relations. This book will appeal to any reader with an interest in the changing dynamics of Ireland’s relationship with the European Union and with Northern Ireland, as well as scholars of discourses on identity, territory and governance in Europe.
Inhaltsangabe: Inhaltsverzeichnis:Table of Contents: List of TablesII List of AbbreviationsIII Glossary of Irish TermsIV 1.Introduction1 1.1A brief history2 1.2Ireland: Basic facts5 1.2.1Political system6 1.2.2The peace process in Northern Ireland8 2.From European Community accession to the Maastricht Treaty9 2.1Ireland in the European Community10 2.1.1Ireland's economic performance in the EC11 2.1.2The Irish benefits from the EC12 2.2The Maastricht Treaty13 2.2.1From World War II to the Single European Act14 2.2.2The Single European Act15 2.2.3From the SEA to the Maastricht Treaty16 2.2.4The content of the Maastricht Treaty17 3.Ireland and the Maastricht Treaty19 3.1The Maastricht Treaty and Irish neutrality20 3.2Ireland and Structural Funds22 3.3Community Support Framework 1994-199923 3.3.1The four priorities of the 1994-1999 CSF26 3.3.2National Development Plan 1994-199929 3.4Ireland's attitude towards EMU30 3.5Irish fiscal policy 32 3.5.1The introduction of the single currency34 3.5.2Ireland and the single currency36 3.6The Irish economy37 3.6.1Economic performance in the mid-1990s37 3.6.2Challenges for the Irish economy 40 3.6.3Impacts of the single currency42 3.7EMU and public opinion 43 3.8Evaluation of the Maastricht Treaty47 4.Conclusion49 Bibliography53 Appendix57 For further information about the contents of this thesis we will be happy to send the abstract and a text sample to you free of charge and without obligation. Please send us an e-mail to [email protected] or a fax to ++49 (0)40 655 99 222 or call us at ++49 (0)40 655 99 20 and we will forward the requested documents to you as soon possible.
This groundbreaking book is an indispensable contribution to appreciating the dilemmas facing Ireland in the ‘age of Brexit’. Encompassing an exhaustive account, it traces the relationship between Ireland and FRG by drawing on original material from both. It critiques depictions of Irish-German relations as peculiarly affable and explores the problems presented by trade, Britain, neutrality, NATO, Northern Ireland and the Cold War. The work contends the German ‘economic miracle’ was a vital stimulus for Ireland’s tardy retreat from protectionism. It maintains that Ireland’s reorientation was informed by lessons gleaned from Irish-German trade relations as well as a budding recognition of the potential offered by German industrial investment. This granted Germany weighty influence over the shape and direction of Ireland.
