Ireland Through European Eyes: Western Europe, the EEC and Ireland, 1945-1973

CHAPTER FOUR - The Netherlands

CONTACTS between the Netherlands and Ireland throughout the centuries receive little attention in comparison to relations between France and Ireland or Flanders and Ireland. However, as this chapter will demonstrate, there were contacts and exchanges. Although these were comparatively limited until the 20th century, they form an important ingredient in the history of the island of Ireland. The adoption of William of Orange as a potent symbol of Ulster unionism from the late 18th century was a significant factor in the unfolding Irish national question. Dutch–Irish relations strengthened significantly during the 20th century after Irish independence, but particularly after the Second World War. Irish wartime neutrality was to prove controversial in the post-war Netherlands. The Irish government’s pan-European relief scheme, from which the Dutch population derived significant benefit, established a positive basis for bilateral relations and brought Dublin into contact with important Dutch political personalities who were to play an important role in the European Economic Community (EEC) in later years. Irish humanitarianism stimulated Dutch interest in Ireland to a degree and a Dutch–Irish cultural organisation was set up to promote interchange at all levels, not least the cultural and economic. The unbalanced trade relationship was a matter of concern for Irish circles, however, while the outbreak of the Troubles in Northern Ireland was understood by the liberal Netherlands as a reminder that religious toleration was not a foregone conclusion in western Europe in the latter half of the 20th century. Most significantly though, this chapter will highlight the neglected fact that The Hague was the staunchest supporter of Ireland’s bid to enter the EEC after 1961, and it proved consistently helpful until Ireland achieved its objective. 190 CHAPTER FOUR The Netherlands Jérôme aan de Wiel Early history In the past, contacts between the Netherlands and Ireland were far scarcer than might be expected, in view of the relatively short distance between the two countries. Great Britain is in between and this explains a lot; it has prevented the development of intensive relations between Dutch and Irish in many respects.1 The accuracy of this observation of the Dutch Foreign Ministry in 1970 is not in doubt. Nonetheless there were some connections. Christianity was one of them. The apostle of the Frisians was Willibrord, a monk who left the monastery of Rathmelsigi, probably in north Dublin, to spread Christianity in the Low Countries. In 695, he became the first bishop of Utrecht.2 In the 8th century, Saint Plechelmus travelled to Overijssel (central eastern Netherlands), where he taught the people.3 Another Dutch association with Irish monasticism was the oldest lighthouse on the Dutch coast, Brandaris, on the Frisian island of Terschelling.4 It was named after Saint Brendan ‘the Navigator’. There is even a 12th-century Dutch version of the legend of St Brendan’s voyage, ‘De Reis van Sint Brandaen’. In September 1970, Dutch Foreign Minister Joseph Luns humorously declared during his official visit to Dublin: ‘It is probably not generally realised how much Dutch civilisation owes to Ireland, particularly in the early days of Christianity . . . The Saints went marching out!’5 During the late Middle Ages, solid commercial exchanges existed between Ireland and Flanders, Brabant and Zeeland. The Dutch imported wool and hides to such a degree that Ireland became known as the ‘sheepwalk of Holland’,6 and they called Dublin ‘Duvelingen’.7 In the 16th century, there were very few contacts owing to the wars between England and the Dutch Republic.8 However, later Dutch merchants unsuccessfully tried to buy the port of Galway from King James I in order to expand their fishing interests!9 The 17th century, by contrast, would prove to be a crucial turning-point in the course of Irish history, when Dutch forces landed in the country. The Dutch Golden Age made the Netherlands the world’s premier commercial centre. It was an age when Dutch commercial genius was at its zenith. Amsterdam was a cosmopolitan banking centre where people of different religions coexisted peacefully and a climate of tolerance prevailed among the intellectual and ruling classes. It was also a golden age of Dutch painting. Such astounding successes convinced the Dutch that they possessed a superior culture which bestowed upon them a universal mission.10 The Netherlands 191 Dutch merchants travelled the world. Between 1576 and 1660, at least seventy-two Dutch merchants and artisans...