The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin recently launched Volume XIII (Volume 13) in the Documents on Irish Foreign Policy series.
Volume XIII, 1965-1969, is edited by Michael Kennedy, Eunan O’Halpin, Kate O’Malley, Bernadette Whelan, Kevin O’Sullivan, Jennifer Redmond and John Gibney (Royal Irish Academy).
Pictured L-r): (L-R): Dr. Kate O’Malley Assistant Editor,Orlaith McBride, Director, National Archives, Dr. Michael Kennedy Executive Editor, Tánaiste and minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin, Dr. Mary Canning President, RIA, Dr. John Gibney Assistant Editor, Prof. Bernadette Whelan MRIA, and John Paul Kavanagh (DFA).
The Department of Foreign Affairs, according to a release, has worked closely with the Royal Irish Academy and the National Archives on the “Documents on Irish Foreign Policy” series since 1997.
The volume, which documents Irish foreign policy in the period from April 1965 to July 1969, is a milestone as it represents the completion of the documenting of the first fifty years of Irish foreign policy.
Speaking ahead of the launch, the Tánaiste stated: “This volume highlights the strong commitment that Ireland has long had to the international rules based order and how in the 1960s, we as a nation worked tirelessly to secure and maintain peace across the globe, through the United Nations and other international bodies.
“Our efforts to secure international peace, at both the political and official levels, were recognized when Ireland, as the long standing champion of nuclear non-proliferation, was invited to be the first signatory of the ground-breaking July 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.”
The volume documents the efforts of all Irish government departments to secure Ireland’s admittance to the European Economic Community, following the 1962 veto exercised by France which blocked the entry of new members to the community.
It also documents the period leading up the eruption of The Troubles in Northern Ireland, the emphasis that was placed on developing and strengthening Dublin’s relations with Belfast and London, and the emergence of a whole generation of leaders on the island, who had a vision of a better Ireland, one that placed true equality at its heart.
The Tánaiste added: “In this, the 25th Anniversary year of the Good Friday Agreement, we are especially conscious of the transformative effect peace agreements have had on this island.
"Contacts between the Irish Government and all parties in Northern Ireland are regular and routine and relationships have been and will continue to be built on trust, parity of esteem, and respect. The Government of Ireland will always seek to listen to, and engage with, all those in Northern Ireland who seek a better future.”
Added the release: "One reviewer of the volume, a retired diplomat, has observed: The latest volume of Documents on Irish Foreign Policy includes, as always, fascinating material about all manner of issues, mostly of considerable importance, if from time to time trivial or even comical.
"However, running through it is a consistent thread: the gradual erosion of hopes for a bright future for Northern Ireland and for North-South relations, and their replacement by a growing fear that old ways were reasserting themselves and that things were drifting out of control. The volume ends in June 1969, just before the large-scale violence of that August, but coming disaster is ever more clearly signposted.”
The series serves as an important resource for all interested in the history and development of Ireland’s foreign policy in an international environment marked by constant change and evolution.
The volume is available to order at: https://www.ria.ie/documents-irish-foreign-policy-v-13-1965-1969
