Europeanisation and New Patterns of Governance in Ireland

To what extent did Europeanisation contribute to Ireland's transformation from "poor relation" to "peer idol"? This book examines how Europeanization affected Irish policy-making and implementation and how Ireland maximized the policy opportunities arising from membership of the EU while preserving embedded patterns of political behavior. It focuses on the complex interplay of European, domestic and global factors as the explanation for the changing character of the "Celtic Tiger." The authors demonstrate that, although Europeanization spurred significant institutional and policy change, domestic forces filtered those consequences while global factors induced further adaptation. By identifying and assessing the adaptational pressures in a range of policy areas the book establishes that, in tandem with the European dimension, domestic features and global developments were key determinants of change and harbingers of new patterns of governance.

Nicholas Rees is Professor and Head of the Department of Politics and History at Liverpool Hope University. Bríd Quinn is Lecturer in Public Administration at the University of Limerick. Bernadette Connaughton is Junior Lecturer in Public Administration at the University of Limerick.