Irish political parties and the EU
Résumé
This chapter explores the changing - and unchanging - Irish party positions on European integration. It argues there are three reasons why Euroscepticism did not take off as it did elsewhere. First, most parties depicted the financial crisis as having been caused by domestic policy decisions, with the EU largely portrayed as a stern but necessary saviour. This was reinforced by the existence of a strong consensus that Ireland's best interests lay in accepting external prescriptions. Second, while there was a strong element of criticism in one major party, Sinn Fein, it was also trying to manoeuvre itself into being seen as a potential coalition partner and was aware that the EU issue was a potential deal-breaker on that front. Third, the Brexit crisis served to renew and significantly strengthen the pro-EU consensus in Ireland.