The Model EU Citizen? Explaining Irish Attitudes towards the EU
| Author | Kathryn Simpson |
| Published date | 01 March 2018 |
| Date | 01 March 2018 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/2041905818764701 |
16 POLITICAL INSIGHT • APRIL 2018
The Republic of Ireland is often
regarded as one of the most
enthusiastic supporters of
European integration. Since
its accession to the EU along with the
UK and Denmark in the first wave of EU
enlargement in 1973, Ireland has been
has generally been considered among
the more pro-integrationist EU states.
Eurobarometer data from 1972-2016
illustrates this, with Irish respondents
showing consistent and positive support
towards the EU (See Figure 1).
However, the reality of Irish public opinion
is more nuanced: support for the EU in
Ireland is not a single entity but a complex
set of opinions determined by a variety of
factors. Since the 1990s knowledge about
the EU amongst the Irish public is low with
individuals in Ireland more likely to refer to
the economic aspects of the EU, such as
the freedom of movement, the Euro and
economic prosperity. This ‘knowledge decit’
is perhaps unsurprising as for the rst 20 years
of EU membership Ireland’s self-perception
of its status within the EU was that of a small
peripheral member state.
From 1973, Ireland became a net
beneciary of EU funding and successive
Irish governments and negotiators prioritised
The Model EU Citizen?
Explaining Irish
Attitudes towards the EU
From trade to the Irish border, Brexit could have major repercussions
for Britain’s nearest neighbour. There has even been talk of an ‘Irexit’.
But Irish public opinion firmly believes that the national interest is
best served inside the European Union, writes Kathryn Simpson.
and maximised receipts of EU funding
through the Common Agricultural Policy
(CAP) or European Regional Structural and
Development Funds (ERSDF). Ireland was
often considered to be suering from a
‘sponger syndrome’ in viewing the EU as a
source of additional exchequer funding for a
poor EU member state with Irish politicians
and ocials possessing a ‘begging bowl’
mentality. During the 1990s, Irish government
and Irish society were certainly pro-European
but support for the European integration
process itself was conditional – Ireland’s
approach was to ask what Brussels could do
for the Irish economy, rather than what the
Irish economy could do for Brussels.
Ireland – a staunchly pro-European
member state?
The pro-EU status of the Irish began to be
challenged in the 2000s, when Ireland’s
Political Insight April 2018.indd 16 19/02/2018 11:19
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