Under Lemass’s leadership, Ireland began to engage with the world much more. Ireland had joined the United Nations in 1955 but became more active in the 1960s and was even elected to the UN Security Council (its highest body) in 1962. Irish soldiers served in UN peacekeeping missions in the Congo, Cyprus and the Middle East.
In 1961, Ireland applied to join the European Economic Community (EEC), along with Britain. Lemass decided to do this because Britain was Ireland’s biggest export market and he hoped to gain new markets for Irish goods in Europe and grow the economy. When France stopped the British application (they worried the British were too close to the US), Ireland withdrew its application. Ireland and Britain would eventually join the EEC in 1973.
Irish UN peacekeepers
Ireland’s openness to the world was marked in June 1963, when the US President John F. Kennedy (the fi rst Catholic President of the US) became the fi rst foreign head of state to visit. His visit drew the international spotlight and let Ireland show the world how much it had changed in recent years.
US President John F. Kennedy visiting Ireland
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President Kennedy often told his family how much he had enjoyed his visit to Ireland. When he was assassinated in November 1963, his wife Jacqueline requested that Irish army cadets be part of the burial service.
