Irish neutrality during World War II
The policy of neutrality was adopted by Ireland's Oireachtas at the instigation of the Taoiseach Éamon de Valera upon the outbreak of World War II in Europe. It was maintained throughout the conflict, in spite of several German air raids by aircraft that missed their intended British targets, and attacks on Ireland's shipping fleet by Allies and Axis alike. Possibilities of both German and British invasions were discussed in the Dáil. Both eventualities were prepared for, although most detailed preparations were done with the Allies under Plan W. De Valera's ruling party, Fianna Fáil, supported his neutral policy for the duration of the war.
This period is known to the Republic of Ireland as The Emergency, owing the title to the wording of the constitutional article employed to suspend normal government of the country.
Pursuing a policy of neutrality required maintaining a balance between the strict observance of non-alignment and the taking of practical steps to repel or discourage an invasion from either of the two warring parties.
Despite the official position of neutrality, there were many unpublicised contraventions of this, such as permitting the use of the Donegal Corridor by Allied military aircraft, and extensive co-operation between Allied and Irish intelligence. The Irish supplied the Allies with detailed weather reports for the Atlantic Ocean, including a report from Blacksod Bay, County Mayo, which prompted the decision to go ahead with the Normandy landings.[1]
Prewar relationship with Britain[edit]
Ireland was in 1939 nominally a Dominion of the British Empire and a member of the Commonwealth. The nation had gained de facto independence from Britain after the Irish War of Independence, and the Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 declared Ireland to be a 'sovereign, independent, democratic state'. A new constitution was adopted by a plebiscite in 1937. The Statute of Westminster 1931 meant that unlike in World War I, Britain's entry into the war no longer automatically included its dominions. Thus, in 1939 the Irish Free State had the option of remaining neutral.[2] Relations between Ireland and Britain had been strained for many years; until 1938, for example, the two states had engaged in the Anglo-Irish Trade War.[3]
Nevertheless, Ireland did not sever its vestigial connection with the Crown and it was not until the Republic of Ireland Act 1948 that the final nominal link was severed. No representatives of the new state attended Commonwealth conferences or participated in its affairs, but Ireland remained a legal member until the British Ireland Act 1949, which accepted the declaration of a Republic and formally terminated its membership in the Commonwealth.
Alongside George VI's few remaining powers, the 1937 Constitution had provided that the holder of the new office of President of Ireland was in "Supreme Command" of the Defence Forces".[4]
External affairs[edit]
Policy[edit]
For de Valera the emphasis of Irish neutrality was on preservation of Irish sovereignty, so committing to the policy accomplished both rational and ideological goals. While the revolutionaries of the Irish War of Independence were ready to enter into alliances with the enemies of Britain to secure Irish independence, they realised that continuing such a policy after achieving independence would be dangerously provocative, a point de Valera made as early as February 1920:[33]
Media[edit]
Irish neutrality was used by German propaganda to film an anti-British themed movie in 1941 named My Life for Ireland, which tells the story of an Irish nationalist family in their struggle against the British.[58]
Effect on United Nations membership[edit]
The neutrality policy led to a considerable delay in Ireland's membership of the United Nations (UN). Ireland's applications for membership were vetoed by the Soviet Union, a permanent member of the Security Council, from 1946 to December 1955.[63]
The original use of the term "United Nations" in 1942–45 always referred to the Allies of World War II. Ireland had applied to join the UN in 1946, following the demise of the League of Nations, whose final Secretary-General was Irish diplomat Seán Lester.[64]
By March 1955, the Minister for External Affairs, Liam Cosgrave, announced that: "Ireland's application for membership of the U.N.O. still stands although it remains blocked by an objection in the Security Council". For reasons of diplomacy the government would not state the reason for the objection, nor which country had made it. Seán MacBride considered that the UN boycott of Ireland was originally agreed at the 1945 Yalta Conference by Churchill and Stalin.[65] Ireland's acceptance into the UN was announced by John A. Costello on 15 December 1955.[66]