Eurozone Crisis

View on E(M)U, eurozone crisis
Support for the political and economic integration of Europe has formed an increasingly important policy issue for Irish political parties as the European Union has grown in importance at both the domestic and European level. The current government of Ireland is a coalition led by Fine Gael with Enda Kenny as Taoiseach (prime minister), supported by the LabourParty with Eaman Gilmore as Tánaiste (deputy prime minister).

Irish political parties views on the EU:

The following political parties share a mainstream political consensus that more Europe is good for Ireland;
Fine Gael is the most strongly identifiable pro-European political party in Ireland. The Irish Labour Party opposed accession to the EU in 1973 but accepted the verdict of theelectorate and adjusted to the reality of EU membership. While its grassroots remained somewhat hostile, its leaders demonstrated their support. Fianna Fáil is also pro-European in its orientation. The party is traditionally supportive of the EU but has had reservations in the past about the directions integration might take (Laffan & O’Mahony, 2008, pp. 84-87).

However there is also Euroscepticism inIreland;
Over time, the Green Party and Sinn Féin have provided the most audible voices critical to the EU amongst Irish political parties, at times earning the label of Euroscepticism. The Green’s policy towards the EU can be said to be one of critical engagement: they have been critical of the EU for its emphasis on neo-liberal free market economics, the inequities inherent in the CAP and theEU’s democratic deficit. Sinn Féin views the EU in intergovernmental terms, and its preference is for the EU to remain a ‘partnership of equal states’. Sinn Féin values Irish sovereignty and Irish neutrality. Some further parties, so small that they have been termed micro parties tend also to be strongly critical of the EU. These include the Socialist Party, the Socialist Worker’s Party andChristian Solidarity Party. The other parties, on the other hand, share similar views to Sinn Féin with their combination of Marxism/socialism with Irish republicanism (Laffan & O’Mahony, 2008, pp. 87-89).

Ireland’s approach to the EU:
Politically and economically Ireland’s policy towards European integration has been driven since the 1960s by a prolonged effort to escape from continuingoverdependence and over-reliance on Britain. Ireland’s decision to join the EMS in 1979 without Britain, to support the opening of negotiations on the single European market in 1984 despite British opposition and above all to join the euro by accepting the Maastricht treaty on EMU in 1992 notwithstanding the British opt-out from the euro confirmed this long-term political strategy. Ireland was a friend of thecommunity method and the Commission, wary of any large state directoire and anxious to impose restrictive rules on trends towards two-tier or multi-speed variability and flexibility. More policy and political energy was devoted to institutional and intergovernmental channels than through the European Parliament, reflecting Ireland’s strong centralized executive government structure. Ireland’sexperience as a referendum state added another distinctive dimension to its EU profile. Ireland is since the defeats in the first referendums on the Nice and Lisbon Treaties (2001 and 2008), more cautious about accepting treaty change. Irish knowledge of how the EU works has been a critical factor in successive referendums on treaty change. Positive perceptions of Irish EU membership have beencombined with relative low levels of objective and subjective knowledge of its working. The Eurobarometer 74.2 of autumn 2010 saws some improvement, reflecting the impact of the financial and euro zone crisis, as well as the intensity of the two Lisbon referendums in 2008 and 2009 in which turnout increased (Gillespie, 2012, pp. 126-128).
Ireland’s view on euro zone crisis:
During the euro zone...