Irish Foreign Policy

After decades of disillusionment, the people and government of the Republic of
Ireland (hereafter, 'Ireland') have begun to reassess their role and identity in the
international system. The Irish state is no longer exclusively defined through its
position (mental and geographic) as an
'island behind an island.' While a shared
and complex history may always make relationships with Ireland's nearest neighbour
problematic, the pursuit of, or flight from, British norms is a decreasing feature of
debates in public policy. In its stead is a
greater self confidence, an attempt to reach
out to other European and small state models and a general ambition to orient the
state and its society outwards towards all azimuths rather than eastwards.