Defending Ireland: The Irish State and Its Enemies Since 1922 - Hardcover

O'Halpin, Eunan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0198204264 ISBN 13: 9780198204268

Publisher: OUP Oxford, 1999

Synopsis

This book is the first to draw together the various strands of Irish national security policy and practice in a single chronological study, from independence in 1922 right up to the present day. Dr O'Halpin analyses the rapid emergence of a complex external security policy combining an absolute commitment to military neutrality and independent defence with close co-operation with Britain over issues of joint concern such as security and immigration. He traces the development of the army and police force in the new Irish state; and examines the state's reaction to the enduring republican threat, casting fresh light on how far the state was willing to put key constitutional protections into abeyance in its conflict with the republican movement.

The book also examines the clandestine intelligence activities of belligerent powers during the Second World War, documenting the growth of the state's close wartime security understandings with the Allied powers, and the evolution of Cold War links with MI5 and the CIA. It investigates the evolution of post-war defence policy, and the activities of the defence forces in relation to the Northern Ireland crisis, as well as in their primary tasks of defending the state from external aggression and of contributing to UN peace-keeping operations. Dr O'Halpin highlights continuities as well as innovations in state security policy as the obligations and opportunities of European Union membership grate more and more against the absolutist rhetoric of neutrality. This book is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the development of the Irish state in the twentieth century.

About this title

Review

O'Halpin's most significant findings relate to the Emergency, when intelligence work was wider ranging and better documented than in peacetime ... energetic, original, and thought-provoking contribution to the history of the Irish state. (Journal of Modern History)

His sharply written critique is based on formidable research ... the profusion of detail carries a persuasive sense of certainty about many previously obscure issues. (Charles Townshend, Times Literary Supplement)

An excellent synthesis of the development of police and army in independent Ireland. (American Historical Review)

For anyone wanting to understand the development of Ireland's defence and security policies since independence, this is the book. It not only contains much new research but the best synthesis and analysis of previously unavailable material. (Journal of Intelligence & National Security)

This formidably researched book constitutes a major contribution to the historical understanding of modern Ireland. The first comprehensive accounting of the state's security position from independence to the present, it fills in not just historiographical gaps but a conceptual one as well. (Irish Historical Studies)

A fascinating account of how the gardai and the Defence Forces have dealt with foreign and domestic threats, real and perceived, to the Irish state since 1922 ... comprehensively researched and highly readable, it is an indispensable work for anyone interested in 20th century Irish history. (Michael Kennedy, Sunday Tribune)

Edition details

• Publisher: OUP Oxford
• Publication date: 1999
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0198204264
• ISBN 13: 9780198204268
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 398