Ireland and the United Nations

Ireland’s dream as it emerged as an independent state was to ‘take its place among the nations of the world’. The principle of international cooperation has therefore always been tightly bound up with Irish nationalism and how the country pursues its goals. In this episode, Naomi and Tim explore Ireland’s quest for recognition, first at the League of Nations and then at its successor the United Nations. We speak to longtime UN staffer Niall McCann to hear the inside story of how Ireland is seen at the UN, and discuss the surprising role of the Irish government in pushing for radical reform of the intergovernmental body. Plus, Naomi discusses a story she broke that revealed how the outsized influence of the UN’s five permanent security council members can warp its policy and disable the body from being effective– in this case, on Ukraine. A bonus episode is available for Patreon supporters in which Naomi and Tim debrief from this episode and discuss what stood out to them. It’s available for subscribers along with our full archive of extra content over at: www.patreon.com/theirishpassport