Journal of European Integration History – Revue d'histoire de l'

82Dermot Keoghmembership. 4 The Irish Permanent Representation to the Commission was notestablished until 1963. Up to that point the Ambassador to Belgium, Francis Biggar,had the responsibility playing a dual diplomatic role. 5 He was assisted byEamonn Gallagher, Department of External Affairs. Dr Donal O'Sullivan, secondedfrom the Department of Industry and Commerce, also played an important role inthe 1961/2 application process. 6 The country's civil service generally was poorlyprepared to cope with the new challenge thrown up by the decision to ‘go into'Europe. There were exceptions, the Secretary of the Department of Finance, DrKenneth Whitaker and the Secretary of the Department of External Affairs, ConCremin, being among the most prominent. 7This article first establishes the general historical context in which the Irishdecision to enter Europe was first made – a debate which involved the movementaway from economic protectionism towards free trade. The decision to apply forfull EEC membership marked a decisive defeat for the adherents of Éamon deValera's traditional policy of protectionism. The application for EEC membership,it will be argued, had radical implications for the future of Irish neutrality. Havingdeclined to join NATO in 1949, Dublin retained its wartime policy of neutrality.The Taoiseach [Prime Minister], Seán Lemass, would go further than any otherIrish leader before or since in signalling that his government was not wedded toneutrality. Although never explicitly stated, this article will argue, the Six expressedvarying degrees of concern to the Irish about the admission of a non-NATO memberinto the EEC. The unambiguous response of Lemass on neutrality finally convincedthe Six that a non-member of NATO would not constitute a problem. Ireland,he would argue, was prepared to join any military defence arrangementorganised by the member states of the EEC.4. The names which feature most frequently in this article are the following: Seán Lemass (1899-1971),the Taoiseach [Prime Minister] and leader of the Fianna Fáil government; Frank Aiken (1898-1983),Minister for External Affairs; Dr Ken Whitaker (1916), Secretary, Department of External Affairs;Cornelius Cremin (1908-1987), Secretary, Department of External Affairs; Hugh McCann (1916-1981), Ambassador to the Court of St. James; Denis McDonald (1910-1986), Ambassador to Paris;Brian Gallagher (1909-1968), Ambassador to the Netherlands up to 1962 and then Ambassador toGermany; and Thomas J. Kiernan(1897-1967), Ambassador, United States.5. The Irish government had acquired a building to house the permanent representation in 1962. It remainedunoccupied until 1963 when Biggar took over the position as Permanent Representative tothe EEC. The failure to open the permanent representation earlier may be attributed to administrativeinfighting to determine which department would have the responsibility.Source: Conversation in July 1996 with Mr Noel Dorr, former secretary of the Department of ForeignAffairs.6. The Irish government, which first considered joining the EEC in 1960, did not transfer additionalstaff abroad in anticipation of the need to prepare the ground in the capitals of the Six for the formalapplication when it was submitted on 31 July 1961. Neither did any of the Irish embassies in the EEC,including Brussels, receive any additional staff to help deal with the obstacles which arose in relationto entry to negotiations.7. I had the good fortune to know Cornelius Cremin well during his retirement and I interviewed him anumber of times during the 1980s. I interviewed Dr Ken Whitaker for this article in July 1996.