Absolutely brilliant piece. I'd love to learn more about *how* neutrality came to be such a sacred cow, which doesn't seem fully explained by the 'one fluke after another' story in this piece.
Like, sovereignty is a sacred cow for much of Ireland (left and right and centre) for a very clear reason: the modern Irish state is directly descended from the 1916 demand for sovereignty, the 1919-23 wars over sovereignty, and the constitution written in pursuit of sovereignty. To downplay the importance of sovereignty is, to a large degree, to downplay the very foundations of the state. It's politically stable for a reason!
But as the piece shows, especially with those remarkably clear quotes from Lynch and FitzGerald, the elite of this country have never really held a deep enthusiasm for neutrality, and certainly it was never the basis of an entire government's political programme (as sovereignty was under Dev). Yet it has ended up as a sacred cow for a whole broad range of nationalist / soft-republican / vaguely left people - basically >>half the country. When did that happen? Before the Emergency, during, or after? And why?
'One fluke after another' can explain why Ireland ended up with a policy of neutrality, but not why it ended up with one that's so deeply entrenched in public opinion (despite being basically fake!).
Whither Neutrality?
Excellent article, Sam!
Absolutely brilliant piece. I'd love to learn more about *how* neutrality came to be such a sacred cow, which doesn't seem fully explained by the 'one fluke after another' story in this piece.
Like, sovereignty is a sacred cow for much of Ireland (left and right and centre) for a very clear reason: the modern Irish state is directly descended from the 1916 demand for sovereignty, the 1919-23 wars over sovereignty, and the constitution written in pursuit of sovereignty. To downplay the importance of sovereignty is, to a large degree, to downplay the very foundations of the state. It's politically stable for a reason!
But as the piece shows, especially with those remarkably clear quotes from Lynch and FitzGerald, the elite of this country have never really held a deep enthusiasm for neutrality, and certainly it was never the basis of an entire government's political programme (as sovereignty was under Dev). Yet it has ended up as a sacred cow for a whole broad range of nationalist / soft-republican / vaguely left people - basically >>half the country. When did that happen? Before the Emergency, during, or after? And why?
'One fluke after another' can explain why Ireland ended up with a policy of neutrality, but not why it ended up with one that's so deeply entrenched in public opinion (despite being basically fake!).