1st Edition

The Early Years of Ireland in the European Economic Community Managing Membership

By Aoife Keogh Copyright 2026
172 Pages
by Routledge

172 Pages
by Routledge

Ireland’s accession to the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1973 provided great opportunities, as well as significant challenges to its relatively small civil service. This book traces Ireland’s internal adaptation to managing membership.  The long wait for accession to the EEC had instigated administrative and management patterns during negotiations which were difficult for... Read more

Introduction

1. Ireland in a Changing International Arena

2. Orientation towards the Six

3. Modus Operandi: Department of Foreign Affairs

4. Tús Maith, Leath na hOibre: Administering Membership — Adaptation, Inertia, and New Perspectives

5. Getting Down to Membership: Managing European Regional Development Funds, 1973–1975

6. Lobbying for ERDF and Challenging the Introduction of Juste-retour

7. Managing Ireland’s First Presidency in 1975: “Is Féidir Linn

8. Was Ireland’s Chairmanship ‘sans pouvoir’?

9. Contextualising the Implementation of Equal Pay

10. Securing Equal Pay

Conclusion

Biography

Aoife Keogh graduated in History and Civilisation at the European University Institute in 2015 and currently teaches liberal studies at New York University, Florence, and European history at Florida State University, in Florence. This book is based on her doctoral dissertation.