Nahnybida O. Implementation of the neutrality principle in Ireland’s foreign policy (1937-2009)

The work is devoted to the study of the role and importance of neutrality principle in Ireland’s foreign policy in the 20th and early 21st centuries. The objective of the research is a multidimensional analysis of principles, means and methods of implementing of the neutrality policy in Ireland’s foreign policy, as well as of the peculiarities of implementing the relevant political course under various historical circumstances. The author analyzed the application of the principle of neutrality in Ireland’s foreign policy during the Second World War, under the Cold War circumstances and in the European integration processes of 1973-2009. Neutrality is treated as a basic principle of Irish foreign policy, due to conflict with the former imperial power and the factor of Partition which preserved a part of Ulster province as a part of the United Kingdom. The application of neutrality principle was due to the desire to strengthen national sovereignty and to enhance the role of countries in international relations. In the process of negotiations on joining the EEC, the Irish neutrality revealed significant adaptive features that distinguished its practical application from the experience of other neutral European countries. Ireland’s entry into the EEC as a neutral country helped to determine the asymmetric form of participation of EU member states in the common security and defence policy. As to the specificity of applying the neutrality principle, the history of formation and implementation of Ireland’s foreign policy had passed several stages. The period from 1937 to 1955 was marked by declaration of neutrality at the time of war and maintaining it in the conditions of limited participation of Ireland in international organizations. In 1955-1962 Ireland actively participated in the UN practicing the asymmetric distancing in relations between the East and the West. In 1962-1973 the main foreign policy problem was related to the negotiations for adhesion to the EEC and adaptation to the European legal norms. The period of 1973-1992 was marked by «Europeanization» of the country's foreign policy, due to full-fledged engagement into the European integration processes. The main process in the period of 1993-2009 was adaptation of foreign policy to the new architecture of European security, including formation of asymmetrical system of commitments within the framework of the EU common security and defence policy.