Irish government policy and public opinion towards German-speaking refugees, 1933-1943

Siobhán O'Connor looks at the role of the civil service at home and abroad, its development and implementation of government policy and its involvement with international efforts to address the movement of German-speaking exiles fleeing the expanding National Socialist territory.

She also explores the experiences of people around Ireland as they learn about the people fleeing and their responses to them.

This study lays bare the foundation stone in the history of Ireland's policy and public opinion toward inward migration, and allows us to understand the treatment of and reaction towards migration today.

The impact of that fledgling refugee policy as examined here continues to echo in the current experiences of those fleeing persecution and war and those set to receive them.