1970 devaluation
Alison Healy
In 1970, the then minister for finance, Mr Charles Haughey was advised by the Central Bank that a Dáil question on the need to devalue the Irish pound against sterling should be answered in a way that conveyed it was "too unreal to be taken seriously".
Dr T. K. Whitaker, governor of the Central Bank advised Mr Haughey to avoid using the word "if" in connection with devaluation, according to files released by the National Archives.
The objective behind breaking the one to one link between the pound and sterling would have been to boost exports and make the State more competitive.
However, it did not happen, and there is no further Government correspondence to indicate that it became a major issue at that time.
Ireland later broke the link with sterling in 1979 when it joined the Exchange Rate Mechanism of the European Monetary System. The British government decided not to join, thus signalling the end of the 153-year-old currency union between Britain and the Republic.
The Dáil question arose in 1970 because some newspaper articles had raised the possibility of devaluing the Irish pound.
Dr Whitaker advised Mr Haughey to make a short, low key reply, saying: "There is no foundation whatever for any expectation of a change in the parity of the Irish pound with sterling." Devaluation had "nothing to commend it in our situation," Dr Whitaker continued. "The parity of the pound will be preserved: no one need have the slightest fear on this score."
He advised Mr Haughey to dismiss letters and articles calling for devaluation as "ill-informed, immature or mischievous, certainly not worthy of serious attention".