Abstract

This article examines how Ireland has engaged with international trends of increasing cooperation between security and development policies. It draws on an analysis of Ireland's key development and defence policy documents over a ten-year period. This article argues that although Ireland mirrors other bilateral donors on some issues, such as a focus on fragile states, its engagement with the merging of security and development policies is minimal. However, Ireland's defence forces have a strong tradition of civil-military cooperation through its participation in numerous UN peacekeeping missions and its development agency Irish Aid has a reputation internationally for poverty focused policy. As a neutral country with no expansive military ambitions, Ireland is well placed to establish a coherent policy position on the coordination of security and development policies prioritising the human security of those in fragile and conflict affected states.