This fascinating and original book is the first to analyse the evolution of internal security and external defence policy and practice in Ireland from independence to the present day. Professor O'Halpin examines the very limited concept of external defence understood by the first generation of Irish leaders, going on to chart the state's repeated struggle with the IRA and with other perceived internal and external threats to stability. He explores the state's defence and security relations with Britain and the United States and, drawing extensively on newly released records, he deals authoritatively with problems of subversion, espionage, counterintelligence and codebreaking during the Second World War. In conclusion, the book analyses significant post-Second World War developments including anti-communist co-operation with Western powers, the emergence of UN service as a key element of Irish foreign and defence policy, the state's response to the Northern Ireland crisis since 1969, and Ireland's difficulties in addressing the collective security dilemmas facing the European Union in the post-Cold War era. It is essential reading for anyone wishing to understand the development of independent Ireland since 1922.
Eunan O'Halpin is Professor of Contemporary Irish History, Trinity College, Dublin.
'a fascinating account of how the gardai and the Defence Forces have dealt with foreign and domestic threats, real and perceived, to the Irish state since 1922... comprehensively researched and highly readable, it is an indispensable work for anyone interested in 20th century Irish history.' Sunday Tribune
'Even readers well familiar with 20th-century Irish political history will glean many new insights from this highly original approach.'
Sunday Business Post
'Consistently well researched and frequently insightful, Defending Ireland is a timely look at the Irish Republic as we leave the century of its birth.'
Irish Times
Cover illustration: National Army Troops during the Civil War, 1922-1923. Private collection: Mr E. A. Lawlor, Military
Archives.
ISBN 0-19-924269-0