Prior to EEC membership in 1973, Ireland’s external economic relations had centred on the United Kingdom. While Ireland had achieved its independence in 1922, in subsequent decades the economy had remained dependent on the wider UK economy, with a majority of the country’s exports destined for the British market.
The influence of the UK Treasury continued to run deep up to the 1970s, not just as our main trading partner but also intellectually. The advice of UK academic economists was also sought, with the department retaining a panel of such advisers up to EEC entry. Over subsequent decades, the move to a multilateral world of equals within the EU opened the department to a much wider range of ideas and thinking than in the pre-EEC days. Networking over a beer, a very important skill, helped build relationships and deepen understanding of our EU partners.
IrishTimes Joining the EU is the best thing that ever happened to Ireland.
'Europe's nations should be guided towards the super-state without their people understanding what is happening. This can be accomplished by successive steps, each disguised as having an economic purpose, but which will eventually and irreversibly lead to federation.'