John O'Brennan | Maynooth University (original) (raw)

Papers by John O'Brennan

The Oxford Handbook of Irish Politics, 2021

Irish membership of the European Communities in 1973 represented the most significant development... more Irish membership of the European Communities in 1973 represented the most significant development in the life of the independent state, and it helped to refashion the economic, political, and social landscape. Membership of the EU brought considerable change to domestic politics, and also to the executive and administration. Adjusting to a dynamic rules-based supranational order required adaptability and pragmatism. This chapter evaluates the impact of ‘Europe’ on Ireland, and the extent to which there are patterns of ‘Europeanization’ in politics and public life as a result of almost five decades of EU membership. It argues that, domestically, Ireland used EU membership as a vehicle for modernization, while externally, the EU provided an increasingly important ‘geopolitical anchor’. And although this Europeanization has been far from uniform, the effect has been a move towards a more self-conscious ‘choice for Europe’. Brexit has confirmed this renewed commitment to European integr...

The dramatic European Council meeting in Brussels ten days ago seems finally to have signalled a ... more The dramatic European Council meeting in Brussels ten days ago seems finally to have signalled a collective EU will toward resolution of the euro crisis. However, quite apart from the problems posed by Britain’s latest lapse into self-imposed and self-defeating isolation, the big challenge ahead will lie in the ratification of the newly-minted fiscal compact. Although there has been plenty of speculation that referendums would be held in multiple jurisdictions, Ireland might well find itself once again in the unique and lonely position of being the only member state to ask its citizens to vote on the treaty change.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2008

This paper seeks to contribute to the debate on ratification and to provide policy-makers with an... more This paper seeks to contribute to the debate on ratification and to provide policy-makers with an assessment of the options before them. Before proceeding to outline those options this paper sets out four key assumptions upon which the arguments made are based. It also outlines the importance of securing a clarification of the constitutional position via a Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the Lisbon Treaty and the desirability of finding EU agreement on the right of all 27 member states to permanent representation on the European Commission.

Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 2009

European Political Science, 2003

European Economic Review, 1995

Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 2006

Civil Society and Transitions in the Western Balkans

With the successful launch of the single currency the European Union (EU) is now focused intensel... more With the successful launch of the single currency the European Union (EU) is now focused intensely on the second great project of the post-Maastricht agenda- enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). After a decade of lofty rhetoric and continued prevarication, the EU committed itself, at the Helsinki summit in December 1999, to a full and inclusive enlargement round. Given the sheer scale of the challenge this represents it should hardly be a surprise that this enlargement has inspired a steady stream of academic publications. But the vast majority of those publications have been empirical. This has meant that analysis of the enlargement process has, as Schmitter has suggested, been taking place in a “theoretical vacuum”. This paper represents an effort to redress the balance in favour of theoretical endeavour. The paper begins by assessing the relative merits of IR theories applied to the enlargement process. Insights from Neorealism, Neoliberal Institutionalism and Neofunc...

This submission concerns itself with the social and political measures and conditions that are es... more This submission concerns itself with the social and political measures and conditions that are essential counterparts to the fiscal compact and associated treaties. It examines the economic situation in Europe and the prospects for Eurozone recovery attaching to the ratification of the Fiscal Compact. It shows that the missing link in the new economic architecture is the socio-economic domain: there is no sign of the development of a „social compact‟ to accompany the deepening of integration within the Eurozone, despite the „European model‟ having been built upon the combination of fiscal discipline and strong social and economic investments. We then outline a series of problems with the turn to technocratic administration in the fiscal compact and associated measures. This leads us to examine the „crisis of legitimacy‟ within the sphere of Europe an affairs and EU decision-making in Ireland and argue that the policy system needs to significantly enhance its capabilities to promote ...

When Professor Joe Lee wrote his magisterial history of twentieth century Ireland in the late 198... more When Professor Joe Lee wrote his magisterial history of twentieth century Ireland in the late 1980s one of the most important issues he addressed was the apparent economic failure of the Republic of Ireland. The main reasons advanced for this failure included slow and erratic patterns of economic growth, low productivity in key economic sectors, high and persistent levels of unemployment, exceptionally high emigration rates and a preponderance of enduring social problems. That this remained the case after more than a decade of EU membership seemed to call into question the wisdom of the Irish decision in 1973 to join the then European Community (EEC). Two decades later Ireland’s membership of the EU was thrown into serious question by the Irish electorate’s rejection in June 2008 of the Lisbon Treaty. This was the third such referendum on Europe held in Ireland since the millennium and the second referendum in three to result in a rejection of an EU Treaty following the failed Nice ...

Pragmatists acknowledge that the ratification crisis set in train by the Irish rejection of the L... more Pragmatists acknowledge that the ratification crisis set in train by the Irish rejection of the Lisbon treaty has grown into a wider European problem. The Irish "No" emboldened Euro-sceptics in other member states, not least the irascible Czech president, Václav Klaus, who has signaled that he may refuse to sign the treaty until Ireland's ratification is secured. With the Czech Republic set to assume the presidency of the EU on January 1, there is a distinct fear that Klaus will use his position as Czech head of state to try to sabotage efforts to rescue the Lisbon treaty.

The European Union’s enlargement policy is universally recognized as contributing decisively to t... more The European Union’s enlargement policy is universally recognized as contributing decisively to the transformation of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the two decades following the end of Communism. With the historic enlargements of 2004 and 2007 the EU extended its borders to the east and to the south east. One important geopolitical consequence of the cumulative expansion process is that the EU is now a direct neighbour of all of the states of the Western Balkans. Utilizing the different templates employed in the design of the successful eastern enlargement policy, the EU is now engaged in a similar process of negotiations with the Western Balkan states which is designed to lead to membership and full incorporation in the institutional and policy regimes of the European Union. The tragic context in which the EU’s relations with the Western Balkans developed along a separate and very different trajectory to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) after 1989 hardly needs to be pointed o...

The Oxford Handbook of Irish Politics, 2021

Irish membership of the European Communities in 1973 represented the most significant development... more Irish membership of the European Communities in 1973 represented the most significant development in the life of the independent state, and it helped to refashion the economic, political, and social landscape. Membership of the EU brought considerable change to domestic politics, and also to the executive and administration. Adjusting to a dynamic rules-based supranational order required adaptability and pragmatism. This chapter evaluates the impact of ‘Europe’ on Ireland, and the extent to which there are patterns of ‘Europeanization’ in politics and public life as a result of almost five decades of EU membership. It argues that, domestically, Ireland used EU membership as a vehicle for modernization, while externally, the EU provided an increasingly important ‘geopolitical anchor’. And although this Europeanization has been far from uniform, the effect has been a move towards a more self-conscious ‘choice for Europe’. Brexit has confirmed this renewed commitment to European integr...

The dramatic European Council meeting in Brussels ten days ago seems finally to have signalled a ... more The dramatic European Council meeting in Brussels ten days ago seems finally to have signalled a collective EU will toward resolution of the euro crisis. However, quite apart from the problems posed by Britain’s latest lapse into self-imposed and self-defeating isolation, the big challenge ahead will lie in the ratification of the newly-minted fiscal compact. Although there has been plenty of speculation that referendums would be held in multiple jurisdictions, Ireland might well find itself once again in the unique and lonely position of being the only member state to ask its citizens to vote on the treaty change.

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2008

This paper seeks to contribute to the debate on ratification and to provide policy-makers with an... more This paper seeks to contribute to the debate on ratification and to provide policy-makers with an assessment of the options before them. Before proceeding to outline those options this paper sets out four key assumptions upon which the arguments made are based. It also outlines the importance of securing a clarification of the constitutional position via a Supreme Court ruling on the constitutionality of the Lisbon Treaty and the desirability of finding EU agreement on the right of all 27 member states to permanent representation on the European Commission.

Journal of Balkan and Near Eastern Studies, 2009

European Political Science, 2003

European Economic Review, 1995

Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 2006

Civil Society and Transitions in the Western Balkans

With the successful launch of the single currency the European Union (EU) is now focused intensel... more With the successful launch of the single currency the European Union (EU) is now focused intensely on the second great project of the post-Maastricht agenda- enlargement to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). After a decade of lofty rhetoric and continued prevarication, the EU committed itself, at the Helsinki summit in December 1999, to a full and inclusive enlargement round. Given the sheer scale of the challenge this represents it should hardly be a surprise that this enlargement has inspired a steady stream of academic publications. But the vast majority of those publications have been empirical. This has meant that analysis of the enlargement process has, as Schmitter has suggested, been taking place in a “theoretical vacuum”. This paper represents an effort to redress the balance in favour of theoretical endeavour. The paper begins by assessing the relative merits of IR theories applied to the enlargement process. Insights from Neorealism, Neoliberal Institutionalism and Neofunc...

This submission concerns itself with the social and political measures and conditions that are es... more This submission concerns itself with the social and political measures and conditions that are essential counterparts to the fiscal compact and associated treaties. It examines the economic situation in Europe and the prospects for Eurozone recovery attaching to the ratification of the Fiscal Compact. It shows that the missing link in the new economic architecture is the socio-economic domain: there is no sign of the development of a „social compact‟ to accompany the deepening of integration within the Eurozone, despite the „European model‟ having been built upon the combination of fiscal discipline and strong social and economic investments. We then outline a series of problems with the turn to technocratic administration in the fiscal compact and associated measures. This leads us to examine the „crisis of legitimacy‟ within the sphere of Europe an affairs and EU decision-making in Ireland and argue that the policy system needs to significantly enhance its capabilities to promote ...

When Professor Joe Lee wrote his magisterial history of twentieth century Ireland in the late 198... more When Professor Joe Lee wrote his magisterial history of twentieth century Ireland in the late 1980s one of the most important issues he addressed was the apparent economic failure of the Republic of Ireland. The main reasons advanced for this failure included slow and erratic patterns of economic growth, low productivity in key economic sectors, high and persistent levels of unemployment, exceptionally high emigration rates and a preponderance of enduring social problems. That this remained the case after more than a decade of EU membership seemed to call into question the wisdom of the Irish decision in 1973 to join the then European Community (EEC). Two decades later Ireland’s membership of the EU was thrown into serious question by the Irish electorate’s rejection in June 2008 of the Lisbon Treaty. This was the third such referendum on Europe held in Ireland since the millennium and the second referendum in three to result in a rejection of an EU Treaty following the failed Nice ...

Pragmatists acknowledge that the ratification crisis set in train by the Irish rejection of the L... more Pragmatists acknowledge that the ratification crisis set in train by the Irish rejection of the Lisbon treaty has grown into a wider European problem. The Irish "No" emboldened Euro-sceptics in other member states, not least the irascible Czech president, Václav Klaus, who has signaled that he may refuse to sign the treaty until Ireland's ratification is secured. With the Czech Republic set to assume the presidency of the EU on January 1, there is a distinct fear that Klaus will use his position as Czech head of state to try to sabotage efforts to rescue the Lisbon treaty.

The European Union’s enlargement policy is universally recognized as contributing decisively to t... more The European Union’s enlargement policy is universally recognized as contributing decisively to the transformation of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) in the two decades following the end of Communism. With the historic enlargements of 2004 and 2007 the EU extended its borders to the east and to the south east. One important geopolitical consequence of the cumulative expansion process is that the EU is now a direct neighbour of all of the states of the Western Balkans. Utilizing the different templates employed in the design of the successful eastern enlargement policy, the EU is now engaged in a similar process of negotiations with the Western Balkan states which is designed to lead to membership and full incorporation in the institutional and policy regimes of the European Union. The tragic context in which the EU’s relations with the Western Balkans developed along a separate and very different trajectory to Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) after 1989 hardly needs to be pointed o...