This State's membership of the EEC was originally sold to the electorate on the basis of the cornucopia it promised farmers under the Common Agricultural Policy and the need to keep in step with Britain, our dominant trading partner.
Twenty-five years later and the economy has been transformed. Gross National Product has reached the EU average. Our reliance on the British market has been halved. And growth rates are expected to remain at 5 per cent for the next 10 years, while unemployment declines.
But fundamental CAP reforms are being prepared. And the top rate of Structural and Cohesion funding will be phased out within the next eight years. There is gain and pain in the pipeline.
In that context, Irish politicians are beginning to respond to the broader, less immediate, picture of European enlargement and evolving economic, social and security structures.
The confidence of economic prosperity has translated into a broader view of Europe. The "begging bowl" mentality no longer dictates politicians' view of the EU, although its traditional presentation as a super-duper milch cow, retains its hold on the public imagination.
In that regard, the Amsterdam Treaty and its limited provisions are being viewed by the electorate through a filter of EMU consequences, the restructuring of CAP and the phasing out of Objective I status under the Structural and Cohesion Funds.
Public knowledge of the Treaty and its provisions is extremely limited. In spite of acres of newsprint and hours of broadcasting, a recent survey found that 67 per cent of the electorate claimed to have never heard of the document.
Lack of public interest in European affairs is endemic. And successive governments have done nothing about it. Their response has been to combine the local with the international, thereby disguising an unpalatable reality. Elections to the European Parliament will be held in tandem with local elections next year, to ensure a reasonable turnout. And the referendum on the Amsterdam Treaty will be bracketed with the plebiscite on the Northern Ireland Agreement for a similar reason.
The situation is compounded by the fact that our representatives to the European Parliament have failed to capture the public imagination in terms of relevance or workload. When they are thought about at all, it is as super-Senators, who are detached from the real decision-making process of the Dail. There is considerable danger in that situation. Politicians have consistently justified this State's membership of the EU on the basis of the net financial transfers it receives from Brussels. But when the country becomes a net contributor to European funds, within the next 10 years, other justifications will have to be found. In the meantime, the slowing momentum of the "gravy train" will have to be made as painless as possible.
Already, the European Commission has promised this State a "soft landing" as it phases out payments under Agenda 2000, which runs from 1999 to 2006. And Joe Walsh has declared the CAP reform proposals to be unacceptable.
Farmers have organised protest meetings in the West over the pending changes. And there have been demands for the subdivision of the State, so as to allow the more deprived areas of the Midlands and West to continue to qualify for Objective 1 grant status after the year 2006.
In the face of growing agitation, the Government has insisted that EU funding can be maximised through treating the State as a single unit. And the process of drafting a national plan, from 1999 to 2006, begins next month after the closing date for submissions. The next year will be devoted to negotiations with the European Commission on the level of funding to be received through the CAP and from the Structural and Cohesion Funds.
Irish officials are reluctant to disclose their negotiating positions. But a strong case is being made that our undeveloped infrastructure - rather than the rising level of GNP - should be used as the criteria for Structural and Cohesion funding. And the possibility of adopting a regional structure, at a later date, has not been ruled out.
The country's new-found wealth and confidence is also beginning to translate into long-term, strategic and political thinking.
For the past number of years, John Bruton and Fine Gael have advocated full membership of a common European security arrangement. And, more recently, he called for the adoption of a 10-year agricultural plan.
Ruairi Quinn, as Minister for Finance, was the first to call for the initiation of a comprehensive 20-year, economic and social development programme. And, since becoming leader of the Labour Party, he has argued that this State should form alliances with other small States in an enlarged Europe so as to influence the future shape and policies of the EU.
Within Government, Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats are also planning for the future when, by the year 2010, there will be 21 member States of the EU. In the meantime, a new IGC will have to decide on greater use of majority voting; for the evolution of economic, social and security structures and for the representation of member States within the European Commission.