Boyle, Mark
(2000)
Euro-regionalism and struggles over scales of
governance: the politics of Ireland’s
regionalisation approach to Structural Fund
allocations 2000–2006.
Political Geography, 19 (6).
pp. 737-769.
ISSN 0962-6298
Abstract
In the context of the publication of Agenda 2000 and the accelerated progress of the Irish
economy from 1993, the Republic of Ireland’s1 position in relation to Structural Fund transfers
generally, and qualification for Objective 1 status specifically, has undergone substantial
revision since 1997. Against this backdrop, Ireland lodged a formal application with Eurostat
in November 1998 to divide the country into two regions, one which would continue to qualify
for Objective 1 funds, the other qualifying only for “Objective 1 in transition” status. This
“regionalisation” strategy proved to generate substantial controversy both within and between
the European Union (EU), the Irish government, and existing regional and local authorities
and development agencies. These controversies were rooted in the need to transform the highly
centralist scale division of the Irish state. At one level, the purpose of this paper is to evaluate
the significance of these conflicts in the light of recent debate in political geography regarding
the conditions which serve to ground the EU’s broader philosophy of a Europe of the Regions
in particular ways, in particular places, at particular times. More generally, however, in respect
to both its chosen methodology and findings, the paper hopes to contribute to the development
of a process based approach to the contemporary (re)scaling of governance.
| Item Type: |
Article
|
| Keywords: |
Ireland; Agenda 2000; Regionalisation strategy; Scaling of governance; Euro-regionalism;
Regional imaginaries; |
| Academic Unit: |
Faculty of Social Sciences > Geography |
| Item ID: |
8705 |
| Depositing User: |
Mark Boyle
|
| Date Deposited: |
28 Aug 2017 16:53 |
| Journal or Publication Title: |
Political Geography |
| Publisher: |
Elsevier |
| Refereed: |
Yes |
| URI: |
|
| Use Licence: |
This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available
here |
Repository Staff Only(login required)
 |
Item control page |
Downloads per month over past year
Origin of downloads
Altmetric
Altmetric