Ireland Through European Eyes: Western Europe, The EEC and Ireland, 1945–1973 ed. by Mervyn O’Driscoll, Dermot Keogh, and Jérôme aan de Wiel (review)

This book is meant to present European perspectives on Ireland, specifically in relation to its attempts, and eventual acceptance, into the European Economic Community, the forerunner of the present European Union that began to consider new members in the early 1960s. Such an undertaking is long overdue. As the editors Mervyn O’Driscoll, Dermot Keogh, and Jérôme aan de Wiel write, “No focused, detailed, or systematic examination of the EEC member states and EEC institutions’ positions and thinking on Ireland, or their relationships with it, exists.” Most earlier scholarship has a more specific, national focus on Ireland and its quest for acceptance, and has relied heavily on Irish sources and materials. This volume approaches the matter from the viewpoint of the EEC member-states and their thinking on Ireland and the strengths and weaknesses of its application. To paint the picture of EEC-Irish relations from the continent’s perspective, the contributors use various documents, both personal and professional, from the six member-states and the EEC, as well as the official and diplomatic archives of Ireland. Each of the “Original Six” member-states of the EEC (France, Italy, West Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg) held the power to veto an application into their community. Thus, Ireland had to make a case to each of these nations. This edited volume focuses on each EEC nation’s vision of Ireland and how it regarded the Irish application. A final chapter in the volume also explores the position of the main institutions of the EEC (i.e., Commission and Council) and their overall impressions of Ireland.

No single argument emerges in this volume. Rather, it is an explanation of Ireland’s history with the six member-states of the EEC and their views of its application process. Overall, the volume is thorough and descriptive, possibly too much so; still, the level of historical detail, and the abundance of sources provided to support the material, is impressive. Although there is some variation from chapter to chapter, the editors have taken care to assure a noticeable consistency of writing, content, and chapter length across the five authors and seven chapters. Those to whom the history of the EEC, in the twenty-eight years covered by this volume, is new will find themselves learning as they read. Readers acquainted with that history will find heretofore unknown stories and information; one example is the revelation that Ireland’s closest relation to a continental partner, after that of Irish-German relations, was with the Dutch and the Dutch-speaking Flemish region of Belgium.

Unsurprisingly, the perspectives of Ireland held by the governments of West Germany, Italy, and France were similar. All initially viewed the 1961 application with reserve before slowly supporting later Irish applications, albeit with some lingering reservations. The main difference was Charles de Gaulle’s obsession with the United Kingdom; de Gaulle’s view effectively prevented him from seeing Ireland as an independent nation, and led him to veto Ireland’s application. West Germany and Italy seemed ready to accept Ireland’s independent status, though they were aware of its economic dependence on Great Britain and recognized it as an issue. The story of de Gaulle’s vetos is well known, but the three chapters in this volume add detail to not only the French position but also the response to the vetoes in West Germany and Italy.

The key point of the first three chapters is that the acceptance of Ireland’s application depended upon the success of Great Britain’s application. This insight is not novel; the contribution of this volume is in its development of this simple understanding into a fuller picture. For example, Christophe Gillissen outlines the role of the French...