Documents on Irish Foreign Policy
Documents on Irish Foreign Policy (DIFP) is an essential public resource for the study of twentieth century Irish history. DIFP aims to make the history of Irish foreign policy accessible to all and promotes public engagement with the history of Ireland’s international relations.
Documents on Irish Foreign Policy (DIFP) originated in an initiative of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Royal Irish Academy and the National Archives of Ireland following the publication of the 1996 White Paper on Irish foreign policy ‘Challenges and Opportunities Abroad’. Since its establishment in 1997 DIFP has published nine hard copy volumes covering discrete periods from 1919 to 1951. All have been published to schedule. Volume X (1951-7) will be published in November 2016.
In a successful e-scholarship initiative, volumes I to VI (1919-41) are available free online at www.difp.ie. Further volumes will shortly be added.
The published volumes of documents are selected from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade collection at the National Archives of Ireland, and also include relevant material from the archives of other government departments and the papers of relevant individuals.
The project continues as a very successful inter-institutional partnership between the Royal Irish Academy, the Department of Foreign Affairs and the National Archives. Through its outreach programme DIFP maintains strong connections with third level institutions across the island of Ireland. Internationally DIFP has a high profile within an established group of worldwide projects which edit and publish diplomatic documents.