Ireland: a voice among the nations
Book Details
Published by Royal Irish Academy
October 2019
HardbackNumber of pages: 381
ISBN: 9781908997968
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Ireland had a foreign policy and a diplomatic service before there was an internationally recognised independent Irish state. The origins of the modern Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade lie in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs established as one of the first four government departments of the first Dáil in January 1919. This richly illustrated book is a history of Irish foreign policy, rather than an institutional history of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade itself (though the two obviously go hand in hand). It explores how a small state such as Ireland has related to the wider world, by examining how Irish diplomats and politicians responded to the challenges presented by the upheavals of the twentieth century and how this small European state engaged with the world, from the Versailles peace conference of 1919 to the globalisation of the twenty-first century.
This book is also available on JSTOR. For more information, institutions can visit Books at JSTOR or contact participation@jstor.org.
You can buy the e-book here.
Listen back to the authors of Ireland: A voice among the nations on Newstalk's 'Talking History' here.
Solve our book cover jigsaw puzzle here.
This is a centenary project of the Royal Irish Academy, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and the National Archives.
Reviews:
'a useful, succinct and well-written narrative overview of the milestones of foreign policy since 1919. Most strikingly it is a lavish photographic history of the subject. Many of the photographs here have not been published before, and they are evocative, textured and multilayered. Much credit is due to those who foraged for them, collated and captioned them'. Diarmaid Ferriter, The Irish Times, 01/12/2019. Read the full review here.
'Ireland's foreign policy over the past 100 years may seem secondary to how the country has evolved politically, economicaly and culturally, but this book shows how closely they are intertwined... The authors, from the Royal Irish Academy, are not diplomats so they can take a critical approach at times to official decisions, which is welcome... the images add greatly to its value'. Peter Costello, The Irish Catholic, 14/11/2019.