The Europeanisation of Irish Foreign Affairs

Abstract

This article will argue that there has been a shift in the identity of Irish foreign policy and will pursue the implications of this for the study of European Union (EU) member states' foreign policy. Membership of the EU and Ireland's consequent participation in a system of foreign and security policy cooperation in the EC EU have had an impact upon the content and conduct of Irish foreign policy. The nature of this impact, however, is contested: while foreign policy managers conclude that Irish policy has been empowered by its participation in this system, some foreign policy activists complain that this very system has constrained Irish policy options and that a principled, independent foreign policy voice is being lost.