{"id":528843,"date":"2026-07-02T05:58:10","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T05:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/528843\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T05:58:10","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T05:58:10","slug":"irelands-eu-presidency-is-an-important-opportunity-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/528843\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland\u2019s EU presidency is an important opportunity \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Sir, \u2013 As Ireland assumes the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/politics\/2026\/07\/01\/ready-to-give-our-all-taoiseach-begins-irelands-eu-presidency-stint\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/politics\/2026\/07\/01\/ready-to-give-our-all-taoiseach-begins-irelands-eu-presidency-stint\/\">presidency of the Council of the European Union<\/a>, success will inevitably be measured by the agreements brokered in Brussels. Yet the presidency also offers an important opportunity to engage Irish citizens in a conversation about the kind of Europe we want to help shape.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/european-union\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/european-union\/\">EU<\/a> faces profound challenges. From Russia\u2019s ongoing war against Ukraine and conflict in the Middle East to climate change, artificial intelligence, competitiveness and enlargement, the decisions facing the European Union are not just matters of policy. They are also questions about the values that will shape Europe\u2019s future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The EU\u2019s founding commitments to democracy, the rule of law, human dignity, equality and human rights matter most when they are tested. For many Irish people the union\u2019s response to Israel\u2019s atrocities in Gaza, the West Bank and Lebanon has raised difficult questions about the consistency with which these values are applied. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Others point to democratic backsliding within some member states and increasing restrictions on civil society as other examples of waning commitment to EU values. These are legitimate debates that deserve to be confronted openly rather than avoided. Ireland has shown leadership on these issues in the past and is well placed to do so in the coming months.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The challenge is not one of public support.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Recent polling by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/european-movement-ireland\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.irishtimes.com\/tags\/european-movement-ireland\/\">European Movement Ireland<\/a> found that 82 per cent of people continue to support Ireland\u2019s membership of the European Union.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The greater challenge is ensuring people feel their voices are reflected in European decision-making. Only 35 per cent believe their views are adequately represented in EU decision-making. Ireland\u2019s presidency offers a rare opportunity to narrow that gap.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">The Government is to be commended for making values one of the three pillars of its presidency. The opportunity now is to show courageous leadership in Brussels, ensuring these values are reflected in Europe\u2019s decisions, while also being part of the public conversation at home about Europe\u2019s future. \u2013 Yours, etc,<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">DAVID GEARY,<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Chief executive, <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">European Movement Ireland,<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph paywall \">Dublin 2.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sir, \u2013 As Ireland assumes the presidency of the Council of the European Union, success will inevitably be&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":17772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[189723,5148,61,60,43],"class_list":["post-528843","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-european-movement-ireland","tag-european-union","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528843","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=528843"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/528843\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=528843"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=528843"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=528843"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}