Analysis: clues can be found in the encounters between Irish policymakers and the iconic French president throughout the 1960s
By John Gibney, Royal Irish Academy
Charles de Gaulle famously began his memoirs by claiming that he always had 'une certaine idée de la France', but did he also have a certain idea of Ireland? Clues can be found in the encounters between Irish policymakers and the iconic French president throughout the 1960s, as reflected in the files published in the Royal Irish Academy’s Documents on Irish Foreign Policy series, the latest instalment of which, covering the years 1965 to 1969, is now available.
The tone of most of these encounters was set in February 1960 when William P. Fay, the Irish ambassador to France, had an audience with de Gaulle in which the latter ruminated on various matters. The topics included the historic unity of Europe from the Roman Empire to the Christian Church; the ostensible Catholic composition of the founders of the original European Economic Community (the EEC, as the EU was then known) and its single market (‘he thought that this was fundamentally why Britain stayed out’ ); and Ireland’s apparent affinity to ‘Latin Europe’, by which he meant sharing ‘not merely the Faith but the psychological reactions of Latin peoples’.
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From RTÉ Archives, Teresa Mannion reports for RTÉ News on a conference in Dublin in 1990 to mark the centenary of the birth of Charles de Gaulle.
But the conversation revolved around a point that Fay had brought up: the fact Ireland wanted to join the EEC and, by implication, that de Gaulle’s attitude was going to be crucial. As Taoiseach from 1959 onwards, Seán Lemass embarked upon an ambitious economic programme that effectively created the Irish economy that exists today. A crucial objective was membership of the EEC, an ambition that ran up against de Gaulle’s view of the international order; or at least, of how certain countries might fit into it.
According to Fay, de Gaulle saw ‘one obstacle to the building of Europe which had hitherto proved insuperable; that obstacle was named England’. But as Fay gently pointed out, affinities to Latin Europe notwithstanding, the economic reality for Ireland was that it could not join the EEC unless Britain – still Ireland’s largest export market – did so as well.
De Gaulle professed to fully understand this conundrum and seemed sympathetic towards the Irish position, and hopeful for the future. When Lemass himself met de Gaulle in Paris in October 1962 the latter publicly expressed his hope that France and Ireland (whom he often noted had good, close relations) could cooperate not just on economic matters, but also on ‘that of defence, that is to say, the political’ and, striking a more ambivalent note, looked forward to the day when he could greet Ireland as an ‘ally’.
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From Footage Farm, Charles de Gaulle vetoes Britain's entry to the Common Market in 1963
Three months later, in January 1963, de Gaulle effectively vetoed the prospect of British membership of the EEC and would continue to do so for the rest of the 1960s. For Ireland, the path to EEC membership was effectively blocked now as well. As reported back to Dublin, the reason stemmed from America’s assertion of leadership in the postwar ‘Atlantic Alliance’ which made Britain’s much vaunted ‘special relationship’ with the US especially unwelcome to France. De Gaulle, it was assumed, wanted to redress a burgeoning imbalance among the western powers by promoting a European order under de facto French leadership. Britain was surplus to such a requirement.
However, Lemass recognised that the resulting damage to Ireland’s chance of joining the EEC was incidental to this wider dispute and opted to keep the Irish aspiration to EEC membership alive. When another Irish ambassador, Thomas Commins, met de Gaulle in November 1966, he found him professing a warm and fulsome attitude towards Ireland, stating that no problems existed between the two countries, albeit with the caveat that more could done in terms of practical cooperation. He was very interested in Ireland’s industrial development, though a tongue in cheek comment about Ireland’s ‘colonisation’ of the US, by which he meant emigration, perhaps hinted at an ongoing wariness of Irish affinities to the US, irrespective of any to ‘Latin Europe’.
If that was a reservation, it fell by the wayside. In November 1967 de Gaulle hosted Lemass’ successor Jack Lynch for lunch. One senior Irish official noted that ‘the Ambassador remarked that President de Gaulle is having no ladies at the luncheon he is giving for the Taoiseach and this is further evidence that he is anxious to treat the visit in a serious vein’.
President de Gaulle is having no ladies at the luncheon he is giving for the Taoiseach and this is further evidence that he is anxious to treat the visit in a serious vein
De Gaulle assured Lynch that France had no objection in principle to Irish EEC membership, that he recognised the problem Ireland faced, and assured Lynch that if Britain could join, Ireland would follow. De Gaulle encouraged Lynch to consider an interim arrangement for Ireland short of full EEC membership and assured Lynch of his support for this, and that he would encourage bilateral trade between the two countries in the meantime. All of this implies goodwill towards a smaller neighbour, but none of it amounted to the concrete assistance Irish officials and politicians so desired in pursuit of their objective; and so de Gaulle remained the European leader with whom they were most preoccupied with.
Charles de Gaulle was undoubtedly well disposed towards Ireland. He himself had distant Irish ancestry; was generally positive and sympathetic in his discussions with Irish representatives; and professed a seemingly sincere respect for veteran Irish leaders such as Lemass and Éamon de Valera (for whom he had a particular regard). After his sudden resignation in April 1969 de Gaulle enjoyed a six-week sojourn in Ireland; his first, and only, visit.
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From RTÉ Archives, RTÉ News report on visit of Charles de Gaulle to Ireland in 1969 (footage is silent)
But ultimately, Ireland was a minor consideration for the president of France, with his certain idea of its place in the world, and ultimately there were limits to his goodwill. It was a reality hinted in a report by a former Irish ambassador to France, Denis MacDonald, in December 1966, when he noted how ‘General de Gaulle has undoubtedly referred to his Irish ancestors of the McCartan family and expressed interest on this topic occasionally’, but could hardly be accused of being overly sentimental about it: ‘a French deputy of Irish origin once told me he had spoken to General de Gaulle on this topic at the Élysée reminding him that he was of Irish origin. The General’s reply, it seems, was ‘Well, what of it?’.
Documents on Irish Foreign Policy Vol. XIII, 1965-1969, is published by the Royal Irish Academy
Dr John Gibney is Assistant Editor with the Royal Irish Academy's Documents on Irish Foreign Policy series. He is a former Irish Research Council awardee.
The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ
