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The policy of neutrality was adopted by Ireland's Oireachtas at the instigation of the Taoiseach Éamon de Valera upon the outbreak of World War II in Europe. It was maintained throughout the conflict, in spite of several German air raids by aircraft that missed their intended British targets, and attacks on Ireland's shipping fleet by Allies ...
De Valera's reluctance to recognise a difference between World War II and previous European wars was illustrated by his reply to a radio broadcast by the British Prime Minister, Churchill on V-E Day. Churchill praised Britain's restraint in not occupying Ireland to secure the Western Approaches during the Battle of the Atlantic:
At the start of the Second World War, Ireland declared its neutrality and proclaimed "The Emergency".By July 1940, after Germany's military conquests of Poland, Denmark and Norway, as well as Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands and France, Britain stood alone, with its Commonwealth and Empire against Nazi Germany.
The nature of Irish neutrality has varied over time. The Irish Free State declared itself a neutral country in 1922, and Ireland remained neutral during the Second World War; although it allowed Allied military aircraft to fly through part of its airspace, and shared some intelligence with the Allies (see Irish neutrality during World War II).
Markings to alert aircraft to neutral Republic of Ireland ("Éire") during World War II on Malin Head, County Donegal. Plan W, during World War II, was a plan of joint military operations between the governments of Ireland and the United Kingdom devised between 1940 and 1942, to be executed in the event of an invasion of Ireland by Nazi Germany.
20 February – The emergency Scientific Research Bureau was set up to seek alternatives to raw materials in short supply. [1]21 February – The first flight by a British Royal Air Force (RAF) flying boat took place through the "Donegal Corridor", Irish airspace between its base in Northern Ireland and the Atlantic Ocean, a concession secretly agreed by Éamon de Valera.
- Northern Ireland was torn apart by three decades of violence between nationalist and unionist communities that ended with the Good Friday Agreement signed 25 years ago on April 10, 1998, between ...
Throughout World War II, Ireland held a policy of neutrality. Ireland prepared for invasions from both Britain and Nazi Germany. Some cooperation with the Allies did occur such as Plan W as well as allowing allied aircraft over Irish airspace through the Donegal Corridor and providing access to weather reports from the Atlantic Ocean which were ...