Europe Day 2023

Notable events in Ireland's European journey

1973 | Ireland joins the European Economic Community

After several years of preparation and a previous application, Ireland signed the Treaty of Accession to the join the European Economic Community (EEC - now the European Union or EU) in 1972. As membership of the EEC resulted in the Oireachtas no longer being the sole law making power in the State, it was necessary to hold a referendum to amend the Constitution.

The referendum was held on the 10 May 1972. Four out of five people (83.09% of the electorate) voted in favour of the referendum. Turnout for the referendum was high at 70.3%. Ireland joined the EEC on 1 January 1973.

1974 | Anti-Discrimination (Pay) Act 1974

Ireland hosted its first Presidency of the Council of the European Communities from January to June 1975 under the leadership of Taoiseach Liam Cosgrave. The Equal Pay Directive (Council Directive 75/117/EEC) establishing the principle of equal pay for men and women was passed during the Presidency.

During the Presidency, agreement was reached to begin work on creating a passport union and common Community rights for European Community citizens. The former Taoiseach, Dr. Garrett FitzGerald, has said that the success of Ireland’s first European Presidency helped to developed Ireland’s credentials as a serious European player.

1986-1987 | Single European Act

On Christmas Eve 1986, President Patrick Hillery signed the European Communities (Amendment) Act 1986, bringing the provisions of the Single European Act into Irish law. However, that same day an injunction was successfully sought from the High Court preventing the Irish Government from ratifying the Treaty without first putting the matter to a referendum.

In April 1987, in Crotty v. An Taoiseach, the Supreme Court ruled that as the Single European Act “was a significant and decisive step along the path to a single European foreign policy” it could only be ratified by referendum.

On 26 May 1987 a referendum on the Single European Act was held. Seventy percent of the electorate voted in favour of it. Due to the judicial proceedings, Ireland missed the 1 January deadline for ratifying the Treaty. This delayed its entry into force across the entire EU.

Since the Supreme Court decision in Crotty v. An Taoiseach, every European Treaty has been put to a referendum in Ireland.

1992 | Treaty on European Union

The European Economic Community (EEC) became the European Union (EU) in 1993 under the Maastricht Treaty (formally the Treaty on European Union). Ireland held a referendum on the Maastricht Treaty on 18 June 1992. The referendum was passed with 69.1% of the electorate voting "yes".

The Maastricht Treaty paved the way for the creation of an Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) comprising some, but not all, EU member states. This is now known as the eurozone or euro area.

2008-2009 | Treaty of Lisbon

On the 12 June 2008, Ireland held a referendum on the Treaty of Lisbon. The referendum was defeated with 53.4% of the electorate voting "no". Ireland was the only member state to hold a referendum on the treaty and its rejection took the EU by surprise.

Issues contributing to its defeat included a lack of knowledge about the treaty, the loss of a permanent EU Commissioner and concerns about a loss of national competency over issues such as neutrality and national tax rates.

In response to the rejection of the treaty by the Irish electorate, the Irish Government obtained a number of guarantees from EU leaders. These included a commitment that the treaty would not affect Irish law or policy on certain issues such as neutrality or tax. In addition, member states would retain a permanent EU Commissioner.

A successful second referendum on the treaty was held on 2 October 2009, with 67.1% of the electorate voting "yes".

2012 | Fiscal Stability Treaty

In March 2012, the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance, otherwise known as the Fiscal Stability Treaty, was signed by 25 member states. Initially the treaty was negotiated as a form of enhanced co-operation between member states as the Czech Republic and United Kingdom did not participate in the treaty. The Irish people passed the treaty in a referendum held on 31 May 2012.

Title III of the Treaty established a series of fiscal rules, known as the Fiscal Compact. These rules oblige contracting parties to maintain a balanced budget (defined as a budget deficit not exceeding 3% of GDP) and introduces a requirement that a state’s structural deficit does not exceed a country-specific medium-term budgetary objective, or is on a path to meeting this objective.

2016 | United Kingdom referendum on European Union membership

Following a referendum held on 23 June 2016, the British people voted to leave the European Union. On 29 March 2017, the formal notification under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union was presented by the United Kingdom to the European Council. This was followed by negotiations on the terms of the United Kingdom’s withdrawal, which focused heavily on the rights of EU and UK citizens, the financial settlement for the United Kingdom’s withdrawal and arrangements for avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland.

2022 | Irish gains full status as an official and working language

On 1 January 2022, a derogation limiting the amount of material published by the EU institutions that could be translated into Irish expired. This had been in place since 2007 and was gradually reduced since 2015. As a result, Irish is now on an equal footing to the other 23 official languages of the EU, with full status as an official and working language.