the great advantage that the common agricultural policy, with its high price approach to protecting the farm sector in europe, was ( on balance ) hugely advantageous to ireland. but in addition, irish negotiators were quick to understand the dynamics of european integration and saw that development of the european union through from the 70s to the 90s was something that could be good for all, but especially good for ireland, and so it was. garret wrote “ the benefits accruing to ireland from ec membership were immense – far greater in relation to the size of the economy than was the case for any other member state. this was true in relation to the impact on agriculture and the net flow of structural funds, but most of all in relation to the expansion of exports ”. it would be hard to disagree. already by 1990, though the tendency for irish political debate to take europe for granted, and to focus more and more on the scale of net fiscal transfers to ireland as the measure and goal of ireland ’ s diplomatic interaction with european partners degraded the quality of public discourse in ireland about europe and the stridency of irish demands began, in garret ’ s view, to grate on some other european leaders. though garret was firing on all cylinders when, for example, he worked to ensure a formula for regional fund allocations that would not channel so much of the money back to the core countries, the beal bocht was nowhere in his approach. too little, in his view, was done, to explain to the irish electorate the benefits of the union and in particular the traps and false directions that had been avoided in the design of successive treaty amendments ( a favourite rhetorical device this of garret ’ s “ if it hadn ’ t been for the treaty of x – or the budget of y – things would have been completely different and much worse! ” ) given the change in the size and character of discussions today, the challenge for those wishing to further national interests in europe is thus rather different to what it used to be. a naive approach confined to a battle over the redistribution of economic resources risks being, not even a zero sum game, but destructive all around. now, more than ever, policymakers need to look to the collective prosperity of the union as a whole, as well as to the individual components of which it is formed. centralisation or intergovernmentalism this, of course, was already the modus operandi of garret and the early irish ne

gabriel makhlouf : opening remarks - economics winter workshop opening remarks by mr gabriel makhlouf, governor of the central bank of ireland, at second annual " economics winter workshop ", organised by the central bank of ireland, dublin, 20 december 2024. * * * good morning everyone, it is my great pleasure to welcome you all to the central bank of ireland for our second annual " economics winter workshop. " building on the success of last year's inaugural event, it is fantastic to see this workshop going from strength to strength. the program ahead promises a very interesting array of speakers and papers, addressing some of the most pressing issues at the forefront of our work here in policy institutions. this workshop is being held following a turbulent few years for countries around the world, including ireland. policymakers have navigated the profound economic disruptions of the covid - 19 pandemic, the geopolitical upheaval following russia's invasion of ukraine, and the resulting surge in inflation - levels not seen in most advanced economies since the 1970s. at last week's ecb governing council meeting, we made the decision to cut our three policy rates by 25 basis points, reflecting confidence that the disinflation process remains on track. for us, sound policymaking rests on a foundation of robust, evidence - based research. only by delving deeply into understanding individual questions can we fully comprehend and address the complexities of the broader economic landscape. research plays a central role in fulfilling our mandate at the central bank of ireland. earlier this year, for example, our thematic signed article on housing in ireland demonstrated how rigorous internal research directly informs and enhances our policy advice and communication. this thematic article approach is something we plan to continue into the future, exploring some of the most relevant questions for the irish economy. today's sessions and policy panel reflect the four main pillars of our research agenda : the small open economy, new horizons, central bank frameworks, and the evolving financial system. these themes guide our efforts to navigate a rapidly changing global economy. while we are fortunate to have highly skilled researchers within the bank, we recognize that collaboration with external academics and institutions strengthens our capacity to do policy - relevant research. initiatives such as our research affiliates program are helping us forge valuable connections, and we were delighted to host our first two visiting scholars this year. looking ahead, we are excited to welcome several more scholars and research affiliates next year as part of our continued commitment