Ireland | Council on Foreign Relations

Ireland

Northern Ireland’s Good Friday Agreement Threatened by Brexit Fallout

In Northern Ireland, the consequences of the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union, known as Brexit, are threatening to unravel the twenty-five-year-old Good Friday Agreement. It’s a peace deal that ended decades of violence between nationalists who wanted Northern Ireland to be reunified with the Republic of Ireland and unionists who wanted it to stay part of the United Kingdom. The agreement largely ended the bloodshed, and allowed for freer movement of trade and people across the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. However, Brexit has imperiled that free movement, and there are major concerns that resolving that issue could inflame old divisions and lead to renewed bloodshed in Northern Ireland.

Explainer Video with James McBride and James Long April 6, 2023
United Kingdom

Moving Past the Troubles: The Future of Northern Ireland Peace

The Good Friday Agreement has dampened sectarian tensions and brought stability to Northern Ireland, but the peace deal’s twenty-fifth anniversary has been marred by a Brexit-related trade impasse that has thrown the region’s hard-won gains into doubt.

Backgrounder by Charles Landow and James McBride April 6, 2023
Ireland

Macron Goes to China, Good Friday Agreement Turns 25, Iran’s ‘Nuclear Technology Day’, and More

China’s President Xi Jinping woos France’s President Emmanuel Macron, while Macron urges Xi to bring “Russia back to reason” on Ukraine; Northern Ireland’s Good Friday peace agreement turns twenty-five; and as Iran celebrates National Nuclear Technology Day, its enriched uranium stocks grow.

Podcast with Carla Anne Robbins and Matthias Matthijs April 6, 2023 The World Next Week

Ireland

Lessons From History Series: The Good Friday Agreement: Twenty-Five Years Later

Former officials involved in the negotiations discuss the landmark 1998 Good Friday Agreement (or Belfast Agreement), lessons for the ongoing peace process, enduring sectarian tensions, and the future of Northern Ireland. The Lessons From History Series uses historical analysis as a critical tool for understanding modern foreign policy challenges by hearing from practitioners who played an important role in a consequential historical event or from experts and historians. This series is made possible through the generous support of David M. Rubenstein.

Virtual Event by Bertie Ahern, Jonathan Powell and David Pozorski March 27, 2023 Lessons From History
Ukraine

The EU Response to the War on Ukraine: A Conversation With Irish Foreign Minister Simon Coveney

Ireland's Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Defense Simon Coveney discusses the further invasion of Ukraine, the actions that Ireland and the European Union have taken in response to the crisis, and how countries around the world can assist the Ukrainian people.

Virtual Event by Simon Coveney March 7, 2022
Ireland

A Conversation With Taoiseach Micheál Martin of Ireland

Taoiseach Micheál Martin discusses what he will prioritize while Ireland holds the UN Security Council presidency, the future of transatlantic relations, and Ireland's approach to Brexit.

Virtual Event by Micheál Martin September 22, 2021

Ireland

Arthur Ross Book Award: “Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland”

Gideon Rose celebrates the winners of this year’s Arthur Ross Book Award: Patrick Radden Keefe, George Packer, and William Dalrymple. The program will include an award ceremony and a conversation with Keefe on the Northern Ireland conflict.

Webinar by Patrick Radden Keefe, George Packer and William Dalrymple December 9, 2020 CFR Arthur Ross Book Award
United States

The Irish Shock to U.S. Manufacturing?

Over the last fifteen years, U.S. production of pharmaceuticals has fallen while imports have soared. It is worth asking why.

Blog Post by Brad W. Setser May 15, 2020 Follow the Money
Ireland

Ireland Really Shouldn't be Driving the Details of the Euro Area's GDP Data

The euro area GDP data—thanks to Ireland—is increasingly telling us more about the tax strategies of large U.S. firms and less about the actual composition of activity in the euro area. Large investments in acquisition of their own intellectual property by U.S. firms transforming themselves into tax residents of Ireland ahead of the end of the double Irish are impacting the economic data of the entire currency union.

Blog Post by Brad W. Setser April 27, 2020 Follow the Money
Trade

Tax Games: Big Pharma Versus Big Tech

American pharmaceutical companies are skilled at using transfer pricing to shift the profit on their U.S. sales out of the United States. That is why the United States' trade deficit in pharmaceuticals is now bigger than the United States' trade surplus in aircraft.

Blog Post by Brad W. Setser February 12, 2020 Follow the Money
United Kingdom

Brexit’s Finish Line Is Only the "End of the Beginning" for Britain and the European Union

The United Kingdom faces numerous uncertainties as Brexit nears its nominal finish line.

Blog Post by Stewart M. Patrick January 13, 2020 The Internationalist
United Kingdom

Brexit’s Finish Line Is Only the "End of the Beginning" for Britain and the European Union

The United Kingdom faces numerous uncertainties as Brexit nears its nominal finish line.

Article by Stewart M. Patrick January 13, 2020
Ireland

Ireland’s Statistical Cry for Help…

Ireland's tax authorities have made the job of Ireland's statistical authorities almost impossible. The distortions in the Irish data are now so big that the impact the data for the entire euro area.

Blog Post by Brad W. Setser November 1, 2019 Follow the Money
United States

$500 Billion in Dividends out of the Double Irish with a Dutch twist (with a bit of Help from Bermuda)

Tax is often the biggest factor in the balance of payments. U.S. firms operating in Bermuda paid $229 billion in dividends back to their U.S. parents in 2018. That’s more than the United States earned from exporting to China before the trade war, and more than Boeing and GE generated by exporting aircraft and their engines even before the new 737 was grounded.

Blog Post by Brad W. Setser August 12, 2019 Follow the Money
Ireland

Finding Ireland in the U.S. Balance of Payments Data ...

Turns out a small and very green island dominates financial flows from "other euro area countries." Ireland's impact, of course, is a case study in the role that "trade-in-tax" plays in driving global trade and financial flows in today's global economy.

Blog Post by Brad W. Setser July 16, 2019 Follow the Money