Irish influence in Washington is waning and the future of its economic model under increasing threat at a time of heightened focus on foreign policy stances contrary to the positions of the Trump administration, according to a new report from an influential London think-tank.
Policy Exchange, a right-wing think-tank which has been criticised for failing to disclose its funders but is considered highly influential, has just published Peak Ireland?, an assessment of what it says is Ireland’s now declining clout in US government circles, drawing lessons for the UK government on need to align itself closely with the Trump administration.
The document describes Irish success in cultivating access and influence in the US, while translating this into investment by US multinationals here, partly due to favourable tax treatment. At the same time, the report says, Ireland has deflected attempts by the EU to interfere with its tax regime.
“It has long become commonplace to praise the skills of Irish diplomats in keeping Dublin’s interests at the forefront of the EU agenda ... whilst appealing to Irish American sentiment to sustain a form of special status in Washington DC,” the report says.
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“Since Brexit, in particular, Irish diplomats have been lauded for repeatedly ‘outfoxing the British’, asserting their national interests far more effectively in both Brussels and Washington.”
It posits a number of reasons for this. It says that the economic agenda of US president Donald Trump poses obvious challenges for Ireland precisely at a time when the changed security situation is focusing awareness on Ireland lack of investment in its own – and by extension, the EU’s – defence.
“Challenges to the very basis of the Irish ‘economic miracle’ are stacking up fast,” the report says. “This, in turn, is generating greater scrutiny of Irish diplomatic hedging than at any stage since the second World War ... The ROI has long been a freeloader off the security umbrella provided by the US, the UK, and other European states – spending scarcely over 0.2 per cent of GDP on defence and foregoing Nato membership in favour of its policy of military neutrality.”
The report pays particular attention to Ireland’s position on Israel, observing that Ireland’s “traditional misalignment with key US foreign policy objectives is drawing the ire of both Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill”.
“Long-standing Irish animosity towards Israel has reached a crescendo in recent years, culminating in new legislation to boycott imports from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. This has provoked extensive commentary amongst the Trump administration and its congressional allies,” it says.
“Ireland is politically trapped in a cycle of greater foreign policy activism at the exact moment that its economic interests would suggest the need for more caution.”
It points to statements by President Michael D Higgins on the subject. The report is also critical of Ireland’s enthusiasm for growing trade with China.
In a foreword to the report, Robert O’Brien, a former National Security Adviser for the first Trump Administration, notes: “The Trump administration and the American people expect better burden sharing from our allies and partners. Much of Europe is stepping up, but Ireland contributes almost nothing to the defence of the Atlantic and European regions from which it benefits so much ...
“All the while, despite its professed neutrality, Ireland pursues an increasingly activist foreign policy that is marked by its divergence from everything the Trump administration stands for, particularly in the Middle East.
“Ireland is at the forefront of allegations of genocide against Israel and is historically among the most hostile nations towards Israel in the western world. Meanwhile, just as it seeks US investment, it cosies up to China with apparently no concern for China’s human rights record.”
