Michael Mulqueen (2009) Re-evaluating Irish national security policy: Affordable threats? Manchester University Press

'Clearly written, analytically rigorous, methodologically sounds, and an interesting tale to boot; this text will not just be of interest to scholars, but ought also be popular amongst Irish politics junkies!'
- Maura Conway, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University

On the afternoon of September 11, 2001 the Irish Prime Minister (Taoiseach), Bertie Ahern ordered the "heads of the security services of key government departments" to undertake a complete re-evaluation of measures to protect the state from attack. Hence, underway within hours of the 9/11 outrage in the United States was potentially the most far-reaching review of Irish national security in decades.

This book, the first major academic investigation of Irish national security policy as it has operated since 9/11, provides a theoretically informed analysis of that re-evaluation and the decisions which have been taken as a consequence of it up until September 2008. In so doing it draws on unprecedented access to Ireland’s police, security and intelligence agencies; over twenty senior personnel agreed to be interviewed.

Questions are raised over the effectiveness of the Irish agencies, the relative absence of naval and airborne defence and the impact on national security of the policy imperative to transform the Defence Forces, particularly the army, for more robust missions overseas. The book also considers the securitization of Irish immigration policy and the apparent absence of a coherent integration policy despite international evidence suggesting the potential for radicalization in socially marginalized western communities.

Theoretically the author demonstrates the utility to the analysis of national security policy of three conceptual models of historical institutionalism, governmental politics and threat evaluation.

The text is of interest to scholars of Security Studies, International Relations and Politics, as well as state and NGO personnel, journalists and general readers.

A weak link? Irish National Security Policy on International Terrorism

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Securing the State with soldier spies: evaluating the Risks of using Military Personnel to gather Surveillance Evidence in Ireland

Irish Studies in International Affairs, Vol 20

Re-evaluating Irish National Security Policy in the shadow of the peace process. Paper presented to PSAI 2009 (Liverpool)

Military force and police accountability: paper presented to the 5th Irish Criminology Conference, Dublin, June 2009

New book on Irish security policy

Michael Mulqueen's new book, Re-evaluating Irish national security policy: Affordable threats? , is available to order.