Ben Tonra | University College Dublin (original) (raw)

Papers by Ben Tonra

Routledge eBooks, Dec 12, 2012

Abstract: Ireland, according to Article 5 of the Irish constitution, is a &#x27;sovereign... more Abstract: Ireland, according to Article 5 of the Irish constitution, is a &#x27;sovereign, independent, democratic state&#x27;. This assertion of the state&#x27;s legal right to conduct its own affairs without outside interference is, however, an inadequate description of the state&#x27;s relationship with the rest of the world. Forces of Europeanisation and globalisation have greatly increased Ireland&#x27;s interaction with the international system and have embedded the state within it. It makes considerable sense to adapt the terminology often used by economists, and to ...

Routledge eBooks, Feb 5, 2018

Taylor & Francis eBooks, Feb 16, 2010

Manchester University Press eBooks, May 1, 2012

This chapter explores the roots of Irish foreign, security, and defence policy, placing them in t... more This chapter explores the roots of Irish foreign, security, and defence policy, placing them in the context of a deeply pragmatic approach to public policy. Those roots are defined in terms of nationalism, solidarity, and global justice, which are themselves deep markers within Irish political culture. Ireland’s pragmatic approach is then grounded in a meticulously crafted rhetoric surrounding key foreign policy priorities but an associated reluctance to devote substantial resources towards these foreign policy and defence goals. Together, this gives rise to an assessment that the interests of smaller and less powerful states such as Ireland are best defended within legitimate, strong, and effective multilateral institutions such as the UN—even as the state continues to face adaptation challenges arising from a deepening foreign, security, and defence policy engagement within the EU.

The Europeanisation of National Foreign Policy, 2018

Security and defence has been a somewhat neglected area of study within Irish foreign policy. Onl... more Security and defence has been a somewhat neglected area of study within Irish foreign policy. Only neutrality has gathered significant attention . The aim of this chapter is to place security and d efence policy within the broader context of Irish foreign policy, to assess its roots and its character and to identify the challenges that it faces. In doing so, it will also look at Irish neutrality and how debates surrounding this concept have impacted the conduct of security and defence policy. Finally, it will illustrate how Irish policy has made a lasting and significant impact upon international security in the area of disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation.Part of book project - MEL 17/05/201

The SAGE Handbook of European Foreign Policy: Two Volume Set, 2015

tcd.ie

This chapter examines why the government must specify policy objectives for the IFSRA. It argues ... more This chapter examines why the government must specify policy objectives for the IFSRA. It argues that policy objectives are the key initial step in ensuring that a regulator is accountable. They are the essential ex ante mechanism of an accountability structure because they define and circumscribe 'the exercise of authority'(March and Olson, 1995) and therefore the nature and scope of the role that the state is delegating to the regulator. The importance of objectives is illustrated by reference to the experience of the ...

Global Citizen and European Republic, 2012

Manchester University Press eBooks, Jul 19, 2013

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics, Jun 28, 2017

Ireland joined the European Communities—as they were known then—in 1973, alongside the United Kin... more Ireland joined the European Communities—as they were known then—in 1973, alongside the United Kingdom and Denmark. In many ways, that membership was defined by the bilateral British–Irish relationship. Ireland was, to all intents and purposes, an underdeveloped appendage of the British economy, and membership alongside the United Kingdom was deemed by most of the Irish political and economic establishment as virtually axiomatic. Irish policymakers, however, took full advantage of the opportunities offered by membership; in particular the Common Agricultural Policy, the direct transfers that derived from cohesion, regional and structural funding, and the opportunity to present the country as a successful location for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) with access to the entire European market. Irish policy makers also positioned themselves rhetorically close to the heart of European construction, which had the added value of creating an Irish antithesis to Britain’s ongoing European discontents. There are perhaps four key themes to be analyzed with respect to Ireland and its membership of the European Union. The first is the question of a small state and its sovereignty. As a former colony, with a bitter experience of imperialism and a strong sense of independence, Ireland’s pooling of sovereignty with its European partners has most often been presented as a desirable trade-off between legal, formal sovereignty and effective sovereignty. Having a seat at the main table—alongside the former imperial hegemon—was deemed to be a major advance, one that allowed the state more effectively to pursue its interests—including the resolution of conflict on the island of Ireland. The 2008 financial collapse, and Ireland’s experience of the EU-led troika briefly challenged that narrative. Subsequently, the support given by the EU26 to a resolution of post-Brexit border relations on the island substantially reinforced Ireland’s European commitment. A second theme of inquiry is that of Irish economic development within the European Union. In contrast to other similarly under-developed states and regions in the EU, Ireland is seen by many as something of a poster child for making a success of EU membership. In the run-up to the 2004 enlargement and shortly thereafter, Dublin was a magnet for central European and Mediterranean states looking to replicate the success of the so-called “Celtic Tiger.” Debate persists, however, on the precise balance of costs and benefits deriving from the model of economic development pursued by the Irish state, the role of Irish government policy therein, and consistency between Irish and EU policy priorities, especially in the field of corporate taxation and the regulation of large multinationals. A third theme of inquiry is the intersection of local, national, and European democracy. Once membership was secured, the European Union became a central and largely uncontested fact of Irish political life. Early constitutional referenda authorizing ratification of EC and then EU treaty changes, while vigorously contested, were overwhelmingly won by coalitions of the mainstream political parties and sectoral interest groups. With both the Nice (2001) and Lisbon (2007) treaties, however, ambivalence, antagonism, and complacency combined initially to thwart ratification. The gap between popular opinion on EU treaty change, which ultimately divided roughly 60/40 in favor, and the near unanimity among political elites and sectoral interests, opened a conversation on the relationship between local, national, and European democracy, which is as yet unresolved, but which many see as having further centralized policy making and distanced it from effective democratic control. A fourth theme is that of Ireland and Europe in the world. Ireland joined the European Communities with no expressed reservations on its further political integration, but as the only non-member of NATO. During those initial debates, economic arguments overwhelmingly predominated, but the political issues were aired and the implications for Ireland’s traditional military neutrality were robustly discussed. The subsequent membership of other non-aligned states ought, on the face of things, to have made Ireland’s position all the more secure. Thus, with a long and popular history of UN peacekeeping and active international engagement, the development of European foreign, security, and defense policies should not have proven to be problematic. In fact, neutrality, security, and defense remain neuralgic issues for Ireland within the European Union and have contributed in a very modest way to the challenges faced by the Union in its attempts to craft a coherent and credible common security and defense policy. This speaks to debates surrounding Ireland’s proper place in the world, the lessons of its own history and the perceived capacity for smaller states to shape the international community. These four themes underpin much research and…

Social Science Research Network, 2009

Routledge eBooks, Jun 23, 2021

Manchester University Press eBooks, Jul 30, 2018

Studies in Public Policy The series Studies in Public Policy is published by the Policy Institute... more Studies in Public Policy The series Studies in Public Policy is published by the Policy Institute at Trinity College. It aims to bridge the gap between the academic and professional policy communities and make a real difference to public policy debate in Ireland. Each Study takes a practical policy problem and analyses it in a way that is academically rigorous yet accessible for all that.

Routledge eBooks, Dec 12, 2012

Routledge eBooks, Feb 5, 2018

Taylor & Francis eBooks, Feb 16, 2010

Manchester University Press eBooks, May 1, 2012

The Europeanisation of National Foreign Policy, 2018

The SAGE Handbook of European Foreign Policy: Two Volume Set, 2015

tcd.ie

Global Citizen and European Republic, 2012

Manchester University Press eBooks, Jul 19, 2013

Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Politics, Jun 28, 2017

Social Science Research Network, 2009

Routledge eBooks, Jun 23, 2021

Manchester University Press eBooks, Jul 30, 2018

Introduction Ireland joined the European Communities – as they then were – in 1973, alongside the... more Introduction Ireland joined the European Communities – as they then were – in 1973, alongside the United Kingdom and Denmark. In many ways that membership was defined by the bilateral British-Irish relationship. Ireland was, to all an intents and purposes, an underdeveloped appendage of the British economy and membership alongside the UK was deemed by most of the Irish political and economic establishment as virtually axiomatic. Irish policy makers, however, took full advantage of the opportunities offered by membership; in particular the Common Agricultural Policy, the direct transfers that ultimately derived from cohesion, regional and structural funding and the opportunity of presenting the country as a successful location for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) with access to the European market. Irish decision makers also developed a policy style within the EU which has been described as 'consensual, collegial and pragmatic' (Laffan 2000:13) while at the same time positioning themselves rhetorically close to the heart of European construction. This had the added value of creating an Irish antithesis to Britain's ongoing European discontents.

Ireland joined the European Communities – as they then were – in 1973, alongside the United Kingd... more Ireland joined the European Communities – as they then were – in 1973, alongside the United Kingdom and Denmark. In many ways that membership was defined by the bilateral British-Irish relationship. Ireland was, to all an intents and purposes, an underdeveloped appendage of the British economy and membership alongside the UK was deemed by most of the Irish political and economic establishment as virtually axiomatic. Irish policy makers, however, took full advantage of the opportunities offered by membership; in particular the Common Agricultural Policy, the direct transfers that ultimately derived from cohesion, regional and structural funding and the opportunity of presenting the country as a successful location for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) with access to the European market. Irish decision makers also developed a policy style within the EU which has been described as ‘consensual, collegial and pragmatic’ (Laffan 2000:13) while at the same time positioning themselves rhetorically close to the heart of European construction. This had the added value of creating an Irish antithesis to Britain's ongoing European discontents.
There are perhaps four key themes which have occupied scholarship with respect to Ireland and its membership of the European Union. The first is the question of a small state and its sovereignty. It is a point of ongoing interest to understand and to explain why a small state – which secured its formal independence only in 1921 and which continues to grapple with issues of sovereignty and nationality – should be so willing to enter into a complex shared sovereignty arrangement with other European states, including its former coloniser? A second question of evident scholarly interest has been the economic development of the state within the EU. What was the impact of EU membership on a fragile, largely agricultural, peripheral European economy? How did European engagement contribute to Ireland's stunning economic successes in the 1990s, and what was its role in Ireland's economic crisis of 2008-2013 and subsequent (partial) recovery? A third series of questions relate to the EU and democracy. To what extent has Ireland's engagement with European integration strengthened or weakened its own democracy and how engaged are citizens with the European project? Finally there's the issue of Irish foreign policy. How and why has Ireland's tradition of military neutrality, which was an outlier within the EU throughout the Cold War, continued to impinge on both domestic debates on Europe and how has it shaped Ireland's contribution to EU foreign, security and defence policy?

Much scholarly and public commentary has bemoaned the lack of a 'strategic' approach on the part ... more Much scholarly and public commentary has bemoaned the lack of a 'strategic' approach on the part of the EU. This commentary has suggested, for example, that the Russian government's geopolitical moves have revealed a weak European response and the absence of effective strategic thinking. This has been mirrored in wider critiques of the Union’s neighbourhood policy in both North Africa and Eastern Europe. This paper proposes a deconstruction of this external argument which appears to link the Union's external legitimacy with its capacity to pursue a state-centric, state-realist conception of action. Reducing our conceptualization of the Union in this way, effectively to that of the EU as a weak or incompetent state, fails to capture the potential of the Union's ontology and its added value as an international actor. In a state-centric, state-realist conception of 'strategic culture' and 'strategic action' the Union is inevitably a loser. The paper will conclude with a call for a more open and adroit conception of strategy through which the Union can be seen by third countries as contributing on the basis of its own comparative strengths and capacity.