“Let us be powerful enough to command respect and to promote our values of freedom and solidarity.” Jacques Delors.
The European Union is founded on the simple truth that it is possible to be comfortable with more than a single identity, and also to be proud of several identities simultaneously. Europe is part of Ireland’s identity and Ireland is part of Europe’s identity. Ireland is enriched rather than diminished when we recognize that truth and act on the basis of it. By its very nature, the EU reflects the complexity of identity. It illustrates perfectly that the reality of who we are, as individuals, is more rich and subtle than today’s simplistic populists and right-wing nationalists would have us believe.
Bobby McDonagh’s career spanned each of the three main EU Institutions. He represented Ireland for eight years in the Council of Ministers. He worked in the European Commission for four years in the cabinets of two Irish European Commissioners. Early in his career, he was an official of the European Parliament. He also worked for 15 years on EU matters at the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin.