European Movement Ireland (EM Ireland) ( ga, Gluaiseacht na hEorpa in Éirinn) is an independent not-for-profit organisation that campaigns for every Irish person to get involved in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been ...

and by doing so, help shape it. It is the oldest Irish organisation dealing with the EU, pre-dating Ireland's membership of the

EEC The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisb ...

in 1973 by almost twenty years. The organisation is headed by CEO, Noelle Connell. Julie Sinnamon acts as Chair of the EM Ireland Board.

History

On 11 January 1954, one hundred people met in the

Shelbourne Hotel The Shelbourne Hotel is a historic hotel in Dublin, Ireland, situated in a landmark building on the north side of St Stephen's Green. Currently owned by Kennedy Wilson and operated by Marriott International, the hotel has 265 rooms in total an ...

in Dublin and founded the Irish Council of the European Movement. Signing the

Articles of Association In corporate governance, a company's articles of association (AoA, called articles of incorporation in some jurisdictions) is a document which, along with the memorandum of association (in cases where it exists) form the company's constitu ...

that founded the

European Movement The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it. History The origins of the ...

were seven pioneers of Ireland's future in Europe. They were: Donal O'Sullivan, University Lecturer;

Garret Fitzgerald Garret Desmond FitzGerald (9 February 192619 May 2011) was an Irish Fine Gael politician, economist and barrister who served twice as Taoiseach, serving from 1981 to 1982 and 1982 to 1987. He served as Leader of Fine Gael from 1977 to 1987, a ...

, Economist; Louis P F Smith, Economist; Denis Corboy, Barrister-at-Law; George J Colley, Solicitor;

Declan Costello Declan Costello (1 August 1926 – 6 June 2011) was an Irish judge, barrister and Fine Gael politician who served as President of the High Court from 1995 to 1998, a Judge of the High Court from 1977 to 1998 and Attorney General of Ireland fro ...

, Barrister-at-Law; and Sean J Healy, Secretary. These seven signatories laid the first stone paving Ireland's way to full membership of the EU. The aim of the Irish Council was to inform Irish individuals and organisations about the EU. One of its primary objectives was for Ireland to gain membership of the

European Communities The European Communities (EC) were three international organizations that were governed by the same set of institutions. These were the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or Euratom), and th ...

(EC) (principally the European Economic Community (EEC), as the EU was then known). Former Taoisigh Garret Fitzgerald and Jack Lynch, and former President Mary Robinson backed the initiative and after a referendum was held on the Third Amendment of the Irish Constitution which was overwhelmingly approved by voters in May 1972 Ireland joined the European Communities as a full

member state A member state is a state that is a member of an international organization or of a federation or confederation. Since the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) include some members that are not sovereign sta ...

on 1 January 1973. The Irish Council later became European Movement Ireland. Today the organisation claims to act as source of information for Irish citizens regarding the work of the EU and its stated aim is to promote reasoned robust and fair debate about EU in Ireland. It retains an affiliation with the

European Youth Parliament The European Youth Parliament is a politically unbound non-profit organisation, which encourages European youth to actively engage in citizenship and cultural understanding. It involves 50,000 youngsters from all around Europe in its events and h ...

, a youth organization which runs events for secondary school age children along the structure of a mock European Parliament.

European Movement International

European Movement Ireland is part of a pan-European network.

European Movement International The European Movement International is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it. History The origins of the ...

is a lobbying association that coordinates the efforts of associations and national councils with the goal of promoting European integration, and disseminating information about it. It seeks to encourage and facilitate the active participation of citizens and civil society organisations in the European Union as it develops. The European Movement network is represented in over 41 countries and has over 20 international organisations as members. The current President of European Movement is MEP, Eva Maydell. For a full list of all European Movement offices, and an outline of the history of the international network visit the EM International website at http://www.europeanmovement.eu/

External links

European Movement Ireland

European Movement International

European Youth Parliament, Ireland

Europe United
{{Authority control Politics of the Republic of Ireland Pro-Europeanism Ireland and the European Union