Ireland, the government and I are not Eurosceptics, never have been and never will be. It is the wrong word, from the wrong context, with the wrong attitude.
For many decades since the foundation of the State, there was political consensus that somehow we had to escape from the unbalanced influence of our nearest neighbour, Britain. We struggled with this question, and often chose policies which failed to achieve the effect.
Accession to the EEC in 1973 was the turning point. We have become more international as a society. At the same time our relationship with Britain has strengthened, helped immeasurably by the achievement of the Good Friday agreement.
Against this background, I find it deeply disappointing that political and media debate in Ireland on our relationship with Europe should now be dominated by the word "Eurosceptic". This is a word which grew from a minority and inward-looking British political movement.
Euroscepticism, as I see it, rejects the legitimacy of the European Union's basic shared purpose, the achievement of permanent stability, democracy and prosperity for the whole continent. It also opposes the EU's essential method, the controlled pooling of sovereignty.
The Eurosceptic attitude is often petty, in deliberately seeking out minor matters of EU policy or draft policy that it can object to, distort and then whip up populist opinion against it. Euroscepticism can also strike an intellectual pose by perversely claiming that the European Union is the continuation of a German project, left off in 1945, to dominate Europe.
Ironically, the transfer of British Euroscepticism to Ireland was captured for me by the young man from Sinn Fein on this week's Questions and Answers who shouted down others and declared he would burn the EU flag. Instead of the "we together" of the member-states of the European Union, these Eurosceptics want "ourselves alone", exhibiting a chilling small-mindedness. The future of Europe does not lie in flag-burning and in a return to the language and actions of 1930s fascism.
As I have said repeatedly, I believe the EU must have the right policies as well as the right democratic structures. I am a constructively critical enthusiast for Europe. I believe in actively promoting our view of the right policies for jobs, sustained prosperity and stability for Ireland and Europe. If I believe a policy proposal at the European level is bad for Ireland and bad for Europe, I feel I must say so. That is not Euroscepticism. We must have, within Europe, the ability to manage economic policies to meet the particular circumstances of each of our countries, having regard to our obligations in the single currency.
I do not believe that to support and work for the fundamental objectives of the European Union one has to sign up for one immutable set of economic and social policies. That is what the Labour Party and the left generally would like the people to believe. It would involve hijacking the valuable European project for one set of policies.
Fortunately, the reality is different. There is a contest of political ideas within Europe. There is diversity of opinion, and strongly argued opinion. My party is affiliated to the European Liberal Democratic Reform Group. Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and Labour are with other groupings. There is no one true European grouping.
Even within the European Commission, there is diversity of policy outlooks and backgrounds. I would be very close to the thinking of Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkestein, for example, a Dutch liberal. Similarly, I find myself in agreement with a lot of approaches taken to European policy issues by Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. They have allowed fresh thinking into a wide range of policy.
In a globalised world, each country is addressing many of the same policy challenges. Countries, states and communities have shaped and adopted policies which have clearly proven effective. We learn from best practice, wherever we find it. This can mean high-tech from Boston, public transport from Berlin, social partnership from Stockholm, research and development from Helsinki and cultural verve from Milan. The European Union is aware it can take elements of best practice from the experience of the United States. In Ireland, though, one is often shot down for suggesting such a heresy.
For Irish people, working in an open, trading economy, there is a strategic interest in acting as a bridge between the United States and Europe. This is a strength of our historic, geographic and cultural position. The health of the US-Europe trading relationship is critical for us. It is wrong to see the policy choice for Ireland as being either for one or the other bloc. I have never suggested that. We are Europeans, not a third small country between the United States and Europe.
There are many issues to be debated in the coming months in relation to Ireland, the European Union and enlargement, and relationships between the three. Let us have an orderly, reasoned and robust debate. That is why the Government is setting up the Forum for Europe. The debate is not just for those of us in government, the media and academia. It is for all the people. We want active citizens to put forward their positions. Let us hear positive proposals from all sides.
Let me be clear. Ireland's interests are to be fully engaged in Europe's development. Any disengagement would be disastrous. The euro, our common currency, has brought low and stable interest rates for us. The single market has been fundamental for the creation of over a third of a million new jobs in Ireland since this Government took office.
Enlargement is a historic opportunity to cement democracy and prosperity for all Europe. We must never lose sight of these plain truths.
Mary Harney is Tanaiste and leader of the Progressive Democrats