Extract

The Celtic Tiger Prepares to Roar

Irish Parties, Leaders and European Integration, 1961-1992

Massimo PIERMATTEI

Adjunct professor, Università della Tuscia, Viterbo

Premise

Studies on the impact of the European integration process on national and European political cultures had attracted very little attention up until a few years ago. As Gaffney has remarked “the literature on political parties in the Union, however, is minimal (…) we can say therefore that very little of the literature on integration is on political parties, and very little of the literature on political parties is on integration”.1 However, the relevance of the European dimension within a political culture has grown since the first direct elections of the European Parliament – EP – in 1979, when each party had to get to grips with European integration issues, both to gain more MEPs in Strasbourg than its competitors and to jumpstart the EEC policies foreseen under the Single European Act (SEA).2 The fall of the Berlin Wall and the signature of the Maastricht Treaty marked the beginning of a new season, more conflictual and complex, in the relationship between the European integration process and political cultures. Studies in this field have to take into account a complex triangle formed by the interactions between: 1) European integration issues – policies, new treaties, etc.; 2) the dynamics of domestic policy – government, party system, etc.; and 3) the peculiarities of each party ← 361 | 362 → and the development of its political culture – its...