Thatâs a huge commish
Youâd have to wonder what sort of gobshites weâve sent over as MEPs. The EU support us all the way on Brexit, then we refuse to nominate a female and a male candidate as commissioner and the four party colleagues of the guy we nominate decide to vote against the woman set to decide what portfolio he gets.
Itâs a wonder he isnât looking after the EU car park.
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And heâll get a break from the six kids. Itâs win win.
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Still wonât make up for the loss of big Philâs influence over there. As a country we may never fully recover.
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Irelandâs loss was golfâs gain Iâd imagine. Heâs probably won a seniors major by now id say.
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Seven.
Not the only breaks heâll get for them - heâll benefit from generous tax free allowances and education support for each of his kids
Forget the positive spin about Michael McGrathâs new job. Justice is a portfolio nobody wanted
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyenâs allocation of the democracy, justice and the rule of lawportfolio to Michael McGrath shows just how far Irelandâs stock has fallen in Brussels. Forget the soothing diplomatic tones from Dublin â justice is a portfolio nobody wanted.
Justice means guaranteed (and often personalised) conflict with states such as Hungary and Slovakia. Enforcing the EUâs rule of law is not a sideways move for a former minister for finance seeking an economic portfolio.
The reality is that in a decade Ireland has gone from holding agriculture and rural development (a third of the EU budget), to trade (the crown jewel of the EUâs competencies) via financial services (stripped of the important bits) to the thankless task of policing wannabe European dictators under a âdemocracy shieldâ.
And while much immediate attention will focus on Fianna FĂĄilâs continuing naivety on European affairs (voting against von der Leyenâs reappointment) or the Irish Governmentâs refusal to nominate both a man and woman as requested by Brussels â these are only the latest examples of an Ireland totally out of touch with EU realities.
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EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen has said that at least 20 member states, including Ireland, requested economic portfolios for new commissioners.
And those realities are grim for Ireland. Because itâs increasingly hard to refute the prevailing view of Ireland in Brussels. Principally, Ireland as a quasi-corporate tax haven. A freeloader on security and defence. An enforcer of the EUâs digital and data protection laws that has been criticised for dragging its feet. A state that constantly preaches about fiscal discipline, yet simultaneously disregards its own financial rules. A monolingual anglosphere economy that doesnât even have a co-ordinated strategyto replace its ageing citizens working in the European institutions. The list goes on.
Consider Irelandâs recent doomed attempt to host the new EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority. While the then minister for finance Michael McGrath was making the case for Dublin as the âideal locationâ given Irelandâs âgood reputation for strong administration and governance and a unique perspective as the significant common-law jurisdiction in the EUâ the rest of the EU was chuckling that these were exactly the reasons the AMLA wouldnât be going anywhere near Ireland. And so it proved: the EU moved briskly to select Frankfurt.
Ireland â bailed out in 2010 owing to its outstanding success as the wild west of banking regulation and still, in 2024, a favoured location for multinationals seeking competitive tax planning â would always be the last place that Paris and Berlin would locate a new EU financial body. Especially the one tasked with maintaining the integrity of the EUâs banking system.
Rather than go big and attempt to constructively fill the void caused by Brexit, Ireland has retreated into its traditional role of harmless humanitarian
This fiasco highlighted more than Dublinâs growing disconnection from Brussels realities. It also emphasised an increasing hubris in Irish public policy, which seems to implicitly view Irelandâs economic model as being superior to those of continental Europe. This view is based on the erroneous belief that Ireland is now one of the richest members of the EU. Irelandâs engagement with Brussels is sprinkled by a âwe know bestâ attitude â last evident in the Celtic Tiger era but probably reignited by Brexit â unbecoming of our history and self-perception.
The truth is that Irelandâs credibility has been in decline for at least two decades in Brussels. Two failed referendums on EU treaties, a reluctance to properly enforce EU data protection rules, a creative approach to taxing US multinationals, a willingness to sacrifice a senior EU trade commissioner (viewed as kamikaze politics in Brussels), and an economic dependency increasingly centred on a very small number of US technology and pharmaceutical multinationals â this is not the track record of a consistent and constructive proponent of further European integration.
Rather, itâs the opportunistic, nonprincipled approach of an island that continues to prioritise its core economic relationships with the United States (corporate tax) and the United Kingdom (Common Travel Area) over wider European objectives. There is no coherent vision for how Dublin wants to shape the future of the EU, no realistic strategy for how Ireland can reconcile its eclectic mix of priorities with a centralising, consolidating European Union underpinned by greater defence spending, looser competition rules and significantly bigger EU-level taxes. Ireland â by now a significant net contributor to the EU budget â still has no clue of the kind of Europe that would best serve its long-term interests. Rather than go big and attempt to constructively fill the void caused by Brexit â becoming the voice for a leaner, meaner, single market-focused EU â Ireland has retreated into its traditional role of harmless humanitarian.
Irelandâs official application for the AMLA portrayed a multicultural, well-educated Ireland replete with the standard photos of Powerscourt Waterfall and the Haâpenny Bridge. It explained helpfully that the âdriving force behind our application is to further deepen our commitment to Europe and help to protect and project the values of the union on the global stageâ. Alas, two months after losing the competition, the Irish Government received a[ letter](European Commission calls on Ireland to correctly transpose the 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive from the European Commission. This letter of formal notice formally began an infringement procedure against Ireland for having incorrectly transposed into Irish law existing EU anti-money laundering directives.
In Brussels, the joke is on us.
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yep, trade, comp, innovation or foreign affairs are the headline commissioner posts.
Eoin started off fairly alright there, then laid it on a bit thick for a while before he lost the run of himself completely.
Eoin tells a lot of uncomfortable truths in that article. Head in the sand a lot of us selectively have over our basket case recent history
Jennifer Carroll MacNeillâs appointment to Minister of State for EU Affairs may have been premature
When UK left EU we lost an important ally which was often aligned with us on major issues and means we have to work far harder diplomatically
and yet weâre sending fuck all staff to work in the commission, either directly or on an SNE basis, places where we could influence frrom within
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Sheâs back to just Ms Carroll now so I hope she updated the passport
Was the UK credible back in those days?
their delegates, yes very much so, the govt not so much
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Holly Cairns very wishy-washy on Morning Ireland.
Not ready for senior hurling
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Paddy is hated on the continent
He really is.