In July the Economist described Ireland as "an unlikely diplomatic superpower." Name-checking Ireland's signature achievements from the St Patrick’s Day access to the White House to Paschal Donohoe’s election as president of the Eurogroup, the Economist declared that "on a per-head basis, Ireland has a good claim to be the world’s most diplomatically powerful country." The influential Charlemagne column continued: "In June Ireland won a seat on the UN Security Council, fending off Canada, another country often flattered by comparison with a bigger, sometimes boorish, neighbour.
Barely a decade after a financial crisis saw Ireland bailed out, Philip Lane, the former head of Ireland’s central bank, is the main thinker at the European Central