Nationalism in Internationalism: Ireland's Relationship with the European Union

147 Pages·2023·2.227 MB·English

by  Michael Holmes, Kathryn Simpson

PALGRAVE STUDIES IN EUROPEAN UNION POLITICS
SERIES EDITORS:
MICHELLE EGAN · WILLIAM E. PATERSON · KOLJA RAUBE
Nationalism in
Internationalism
Ireland’s Relationship
with the European Union
Michael Holmes · Kathryn Simpson
Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics
Series Editors
Michelle Egan
American University
Washington, USA
William E. Paterson
Aston University
Birmingham, UK
Kolja Raube
KU Leuven
Leuven, Belgium
Following on the sustained success of the acclaimed European Union
Series, which essentially publishes research-based textbooks, Palgrave
Studies in European Union Politics publishes cutting edge research-driven
monographs. The remit of the series is broadly defined, both in terms of
subject and academic discipline. All topics of significance concerning the
nature and operation of the European Union potentially fall within the
scope of the series. The series is multidisciplinary to reflect the growing
importance of the EU as a political, economic and social phenomenon. To
submit a proposal, please contact Senior Editor Ambra Finotello ambra.
[email protected]. This series is indexed by Scopus.
Editorial Board:
Laurie Buonanno (SUNY Buffalo State, USA)
Kenneth Dyson (Cardiff University, UK)
Brigid Laffan (European University Institute, Italy)
Claudio Radaelli (University College London, UK)
Mark Rhinard (Stockholm University, Sweden)
Ariadna Ripoll Servent (University of Bamberg, Germany)
Frank Schimmelfennig (ETH Zurich, Switzerland)
Claudia Sternberg (University College London, UK)
Nathalie Tocci (Istituto Affari Internazionali, Italy)
Michael Holmes • Kathryn Simpson
Nationalism in
Internationalism
Ireland’s Relationship with the European Union
Michael Holmes Kathryn Simpson
ESPOL, Université Catholique de Lille Keele Business School and School of
Lille, France Social, Political and Global Studies
Keele University
Keele, UK
ISSN 2662-5873 ISSN 2662-5881 (electronic)
Palgrave Studies in European Union Politics
ISBN 978-3-031-09288-6 ISBN 978-3-031-09289-3 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-09289-3
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023
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P a
reface and cknowledgements
This book arose out of our earlier edited volume, Ireland and the European
Union: economic, political and social crises (Holmes & Simpson, 2021),
which was a multi-disciplinary book exploring different aspects of the
Irish-EU relationship in the wake of the financial crisis and Brexit. As we
surveyed the various contributions from several disciplines, including law,
politics, economics and sociology, we noticed an underlying pattern of
adaption and accommodation between Irish nationalism and European
integration.
This book aims to take that idea—one among many in that earlier pub-
lication—and use it as the basis for an analysis of Ireland’s 50 years of
membership of the EU. We present what we hope is an original interpreta-
tion of Irish-EU relations. Our aim is to analyse the Irish-EU relationship
from the idea of two apparently contradictory political ideas—internation-
alism (as represented by European integration in this particular instance)
and nationalism (a long dominant value in Irish politics). We argue that to
date the contradictions have been managed with considerable ease, lead-
ing us to characterise the Irish-EU relationship as “nationalism within
internationalism”.
There is perhaps never a perfect time to choose to write a book, but this
one has been written under unusually tricky circumstances. One author
was discovering the joys of parenthood, the other was in the middle of
moving from the UK to France, and all of this was in the midst of a global
pandemic which seriously restricted the ability to travel for research. We
should therefore start by thanking computer technology, which helped to
overcome some of those practical hurdles.
v
vi PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We would also like to extend our thanks to many others who helped to
make this book possible. Firstly, we owe a great debt of gratitude to the
great team of contributors who worked with us on the Ireland and the
European Union: economic, political and social crises project. The richness
of their ideas and research on Ireland and the EU, as well as the diversity
of opinions, helped greatly to give us the inspiration for this book and to
set us some of the challenges we have tried to address.
Secondly, we would like to thank ESPOL Lille and Manchester
Metropolitan University for supporting this research. We would also like
to acknowledge Tony Costello (Liverpool Hope), Christine Cullen (UCD
Library Services), Aideen Elliott (Oxfam International), Michael Kennedy
(Royal Irish Academy), Aidan McNamara (Oviedo), Kevin O’Rourke
(NYU) and Andy Storey (UCD) for their invaluable help and assistance in
relation to the aspects of this book.
Thirdly, we would like to thank the anonymous external reviewers of
our initial proposal and of the final draft for their robust feedback on the
manuscript, we benefitted greatly from their comments. We would also
like to thank Palgrave Macmillan, and in particular Ambra Finotello for
her support and enthusiasm for the book, and Rubina Infanta Rani and
Ulrike Stricker-Kamba at Springer for their work on the production pro-
cess and delivery of the book.
In the James Joyce play Exiles, the character Robert Hand states ‘if
Ireland is to become a new Ireland she must first become European’. This
book suggests that perhaps there is a new Ireland, and that it has come
about in large part because the country has become European. However,
we would also argue that all successful political systems must develop and
adapt, so both Ireland and Europe will continue to evolve. We have found
the observation and analysis of the Irish-EU relationship to be a constantly
fascinating area of research; we hope that this book manages to convey
something of our fascination with the topic, and hopefully it will inspire
further scholarship in the area.
Lille, France Michael Holmes
Keele, UK Kathryn Simpson
2022
c
ontents
1 Imagined States: Nationalism and Internationalism 1
2 At the Crossroads: Ireland’s Path to Europe 21
3 Hopes and Handouts: Adapting to Membership 41
4 A Tiger in the Zoo: Growth and Greed 61
5 The Bonds that Tie: Crisis and Cooperation 79
6 Four Green Fields and 12 Gold Stars: Nationalism in
Internationalism 101
References 113
Index 131
vii
a a
bout the uthors
Michael Holmes is Associate Professor of Political Science at the European
School of Political and Social Sciences (ESPOL) in the Catholic University
of Lille, France. His research focuses mainly on Ireland and the European
Union and on the impact of European integration on political parties,
particularly parties of the left. His publications include The Left and the
European Constitution and The European Left and the financial crisis (both
co-edited with Knut Roder). His most recent book (co-edited with
Kathryn Simpson) is Ireland and the European Union: economic, political
and social crises.
Kathryn Simpson is Associate Professor of Economics and Politics of the
European Union at Keele Business School and School of Social, Political
and Global Studies at Keele University, UK. She is also Deputy Director
of the Manchester Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence (JMCE) and Elected
Secretary of the University Association for Contemporary European
Studies (UACES). Her research focuses on public opinion, political behav-
iour and attitudes towards the European Union, in particular in Ireland
and the UK in the context of Brexit. She has published her work in leading
academic journals such as Irish Political Studies, the Journal of European
Public Policy and the Journal of Common Market Studies.
ix
a i t
bbreviations and rish erms
The following abbreviations and terms appear throughout the book.
Other abbreviations are explained on a chapter-by-chapter basis
1998 Agreement Throughout the book the term 1998 Agreement is
used to refer to the current Northern Ireland peace
accord. The official title of the document is simply The
Agreement, and it is also known as the Belfast or the
Good Friday Agreement
AIB Allied Irish Bank
AIFTA Anglo Irish Free Trade Agreement
ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations
BEPG Broad Economic Policy Guidelines
Bunreacht na hÉireann Constitution of Ireland
CAP Common Agricultural Policy
CFP Common Fisheries Policy
CFSP Common Foreign and Security Policy
CSCE Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
CSDP Common Security and Defence Policy
CTA Common Travel Area
Dáil Éireann Lower house of parliament
DUP Democratic Unionist Party
EC European Community (name that applied from the
Merger Treaty of 1967 until the start of the EU
in 1993)
ECB European Central Bank
ECJ European Court of Justice
ECSC European Coal and Steel Community
xi