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INRL20080

Academic Year 2026/2027

Irish Foreign Policy (INRL20080)

Subject:
International Relations
College:
Social Sciences & Law
School:
Politics & Int Relations
Level:
2 (Intermediate)
Credits:
5
Module Coordinator:
Professor Ben Tonra
Trimester:
Autumn
Mode of Delivery:
On Campus
Internship Module:
No
How will I be graded?
Letter grades

Curricular information is subject to change.

This module offers an exploration of the derivation, development and practice of Irish foreign, security and defence policies, with a particular focus on contemporary challenges. Students will gain a detailed insight into Ireland's place in the contemporary world order, the transformation of Irish national foreign, security and defence policy through its membership of the European Union and the efforts of Irish policy makers to pursue Irish interests and values within an evolving global order. This will include an analysis of Irish foreign policy strategy, policy making and economic, political and military enagement. It is intended that this module will provide a solid theoretical and empirical grounding for further advanced study, and will encourage students to compare and to evaluate critically competing understandings of Ireland in the world. Transferable skills will be developed in independent research, teamwork, communications and role play.

About this Module

Learning Outcomes:

On successful completion of the module, students will be able to:

Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the evolution, formation and implementation of Irish foreign, security and defence policies.

Debate and discuss these policies as they relate to significant contemporary challenges, and formulate a realistic, evidence-based policy response to one such challenge.

Apply relevant theoretical approaches and analytical concepts from International Relations to explain and evaluate Irish foreign policy.

Assess Ireland's role in the construction and conduct of the European Union's foreign, security and defence policy.

Critically analyse Irish foreign policy using contrasting perspectives and detailed empirical and primary-source evidence.

Work effectively within a professional team to research, negotiate and defend a collective policy position, exercising sound professional judgement under time and evidentiary constraints.

Reflect critically on their own intellectual development and policy judgement over the course of the module, using specific examples from their own analysis and collaborative work.

The United Nations identified seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as core to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and UCD contributes in general to SDG 4 Quality Education. Further SDGs explored within this module if relevant are listed below. A scale of 1 - 5 indicates the extent to which the SDG is covered.


 

Student Effort Hours:
Student Effort Type Hours
Lectures

24
Autonomous Student Learning

100
Total

124

Approaches to Teaching and Learning:
The unit will be taught in an interactive lecture format. All students are expected to have read specified material for each lecture, reflect critically on this reading and engage independently with research sources to follow and to comment upon contemporary debates on Irish foreign policy. They also should be prepared to work collaboratively in pre-assigned student groups. The BrightSpace system will be used as a support to the module.

Requirements, Exclusions and Recommendations

Not applicable to this module.


Module Requisites and Incompatibles
Not applicable to this module.
 

Assessment Strategy
Description Timing Component Scale Must Pass Component % of Final Grade Component repeat (in-module) Offered
Assignment(Including Essay): Approximately 500–600 words. Each student will select a recent press/media report relating to Irish foreign policy and analyse it using material from the opening weeks of the module. Week 3 Graded No
10
 No
Group Work Assignment: Pre-assigned student groups will submit a Foreign Policy Decision Project. The problem/scenario will be assigned by the module coordinator and will require a final 2-3,000 word document Week 9 Graded No
60
 No
Reflective Assignment: Reflective assessment on individual learning over the course of the module Week 12 Graded No
30
 No

As part of UCD's student support, under the Additional Consideration policy, extensions may be available for the following assessments in the module: Assignment (including essay/poster), Portfolio, Reflective Assignment, Report(s), and Individual Project.


Carry forward of passed components
Yes
 

Resit In Terminal Exam
Spring No
Please see Student Jargon Buster for more information about remediation types and timing. 

Feedback Strategy/Strategies

• Feedback individually to students, post-assessment
• Group/class feedback, post-assessment

How will my Feedback be Delivered?

Not yet recorded.

Required core text: Irish Foreign Policy, Ben Tonra, Michael Kennedy, Noel Dorr and John Doyle (eds.), Royal Irish Academy/Gill,

Paperback / softback
Number of pages: 304

ISBN: 9780717152643

Timetabling information is displayed only for guidance purposes, relates to the current Academic Year only and is subject to change.
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12 Thurs 14:00 - 15:50
Autumn Lecture Offering 1 Week(s) - 6 Thurs 14:00 - 15:50
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