The Other Europeans? The National Habitus and the Multipolar Axis of Irish Identity

Irish identity is more complex than the superficial categorization of the nation-state. In addition to its Gaelic insular yet European forms of identification, Irish identity is territorially, institutionally and religious-culturally diversified not only in relation of the two Irish polities, but also in relation to the United Kingdom and the European Union. The national habitus Ireland and Northern Ireland present is as equally fragmentary as bridging sociopolitical features, which belong to the histories of the Irish people and the institutions the former equipped itself with. Inspired by the teachings of historical sociology and studies on nation-building processes, the article delineates the major dispositional conditions of Irish national habitus and place them on the multipolar axis, and scale, of identification in its intercrossing of processes and political factualities. Key-words: Ireland, national identity, habitus, European integration, sociopolitical institutions