The European Union is the world's most successful invention for advancing peace.
The E.U. is more than just a trade organization or a common market; it is a guarantee of democracy, freedom, justice, and human rights. Nations cannot stay in the E.U. if they do not respect these guarantees.
The Irish Free State was one of dozens of new European democracies to emerge from the cauldron of the 1914-1918 war. It was one of the very few that was still democratic in 1939. This book shows how the steely determination of one man, Kevin O'Higgins, made this possible. O'Higgins faced down mutinies in both the Gardai and the Army. He dissolved the Dáil Courts which were a parallel system that might easily have undermined the conventional courts. With WT Cosgrave, he put through a constitution which reconciled the local opponents of independence with the new State.
Since creation of the E.U. a half century ago, Europe has enjoyed the longest period of peace in its history.
The economy is not an abstraction. The economy consists of people, and it will only grow if people feel secure and are reasonably free.
If the EU and the US can cooperate successfully on regulating financial markets, everyone else will follow.
The E.U. imports more agricultural goods from developing countries around the world than does the U.S., Canada and Japan, combined.
The EU and the U.S. often work together to develop international standards. This is the case in fighting terrorism and transnational crime, advancing trade liberalization, and combating piracy and intellectual property violations.
Ireland has a role to play in making the E.U. united and strong.
U.S. companies rely on the European market for more than half of their global foreign profits.
The E.U. is the world's fastest growing democratic body.
When the E.U. and the U.S. agree, other countries follow.
The E.U. has moved to combat global terrorism by instituting common European arrest and evidence warrants and creating a joint situation center to pool and analyze intelligence.
David Cameron says he wants to keep Britain in the EU, but his tactics are so divisive that, if he gets what he wants it will be at the price of huge ill-will in Europe; or if he doesn't, it will be at the price of increased anti-EU sentiment in his own party and in British society.
States can be deterred by the fear of retaliation; non-state organisations cannot by deterred at all.
The U.S. - E.U. economic relationship dwarfs America's economic ties with China.
The time horizon may be too long for sole reliance on market solutions - but perhaps the inventiveness of the financial services industry will prove me wrong that point!
U.S. companies earn more from their investments in the EU than in the rest of the world combined.
That's where my job comes in. Getting the E.U. and U.S. to agree.
Proliferation of nuclear weapons to terrorist organisations is far more dangerous than proliferation of nuclear weapons to states, even states like North Korea.
European investment in Texas alone exceeds all U.S. investment in China and Japan put together.
We in Ireland have not been immune from the bigotry and the indifference which manifested itself in Europe this century
A terrorist nuclear detonation in a western city would destroy all economic confidence.
But our system of regulation must keep up with this. If it fails to keep up, it will hold back economic expansion. We need financial market regulation that works at national and European level.
Financial service providers act as the lubricating oil in the economy. They link consumers who want to invest their savings for a good return with companies who want to borrow on best terms for expansion.
