Ireland and the European Union

Economic, political and social crises

Michael Holmes, Kathryn Simpson, Michael Holmes, Kathryn Simpson, Dimitris Papadimitriou, Kathryn Simpson, Paul Tobin

• Publisher: Manchester University Press
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN:
  9781526161420
• eBook ISBN:
  9781526159588
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: Irish History
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book examines how Ireland's relationship with the EU was affected by a succession of crises in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The financial crisis, the Brexit crisis and the migration crisis were not of equal significance on the island of Ireland. The financial crisis was a huge issue for the Republic but not Northern Ireland, Brexit had a major impact in both polities, the migration and populism issues were less controversial, while foreign policy challenges had a minimal impact. The book provides a summary of the main features of each of the crises to be considered, from both the EU and the Irish perspective.

Ireland and the European Union is the first volume of its kind to provide a comprehensive analysis on British–Irish relations in the context of Brexit. It assesses the Withdrawal Agreement and Protocol on Ireland/Northern Ireland, the devolution settlement and the 1998 Agreement, as well as the European dimension to Northern Ireland's peace process. The contributors explore a number of policy areas that are central to the understanding of each of the crises and the impact of each for Ireland. Chapters examine issues such as security, migration and taxation as well as protest politics, political parties, the media, public opinion and the economic impact of each of these crises on Ireland's relationship with the EU.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Figures
• Tables
• Contributors
• Preface and acknowledgements
• Abbreviations and Irish terms
• 1 Ireland and the EU: crisis and change
• 2 The global island: Ireland in a changed Union
• 3 A turbulent commitment: economic relations between Ireland and the EU between the crash and Brexit
• 4 Sovereign or not sovereign: tax policy, Ireland and the EU
• 5 Ireland’s migration and asylum policies in an EU context: from opt-outs to solidarity?
• 6 Irish political parties and the EU: Euro-nationalism, not Euroscepticism
• 7 Post-crash protest politics
• 8 National interest and public interest: public opinion from the economic crisis to Brexit
• 9 ‘No time for diplomatic squeamishness’: news media framing of Irish political interventions in the UK’s EU referendum
• 10 British–Irish relations: how Brexit unsettled what had been normalised
• 11 Brexit and the economy of Ireland
• 12 Northern Ireland and Brexit: a unique challenge in unique circumstances
• 13 Making it up as we go along: Brexit and constitutional politics in Great Britain and Ireland
• 14 Taking back control, without going back to conflict: weighing up the impact of Brexit on Northern Ireland’s peace process
• 15 EU Structural Fund programmes on the island of Ireland: Interreg and the cross-border dimension
• 16 Ireland and the EU: nationalism in internationalism
• Index