Beyond neutrality: the role of identity in Irish defence and security policy

Abstract

What lies behind Ireland’s anomalous approach to its defence and security policy? Why does a state which is otherwise politically aligned and integrated with its regional neighbours behave so differently, investing and cooperating to such limited extents, where defence and security are concerned? This is a question which has not garnered significant academic attention, and one the body of scholarship produced to date has struggled to answer. This study departs from the approach of previous scholarship in examining Irish behaviour through the lens of ontological security. By analysing elite Irish discourse on defence and security between 2014 and 2023, it illustrates the link between Irish identity constructions and policymaking in the defence and security sphere, highlighting the discursive ‘field of action’ generated for elite decision-makers by Ireland’s sense of self as an actor in the international community. It alleges that this sense of self perceives Ireland as a peace promoter and moral authority, one which is not entirely included in the Western European security space, and that such an identity precludes Ireland from shaping its policy in a manner similar to that of other Western European states. Prior to 2022, Irish ontological security was preserved through the maintenance of low military capability and limited international cooperation: from 2022, amid Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Irish ‘field of action’ is found to have partially expanded to incorporate greater scope for investment and cooperation, but with the underlying identity tenets remaining the same.