Raymond Crotty
Encyclopedia
Raymond Crotty was an Irish
economist and campaigner against Irish membership of the European Union
. In 1987 he mounted a successful legal challenge in the Irish Supreme Court against the government's attempt to ratify the Single European Act
without reference to the people in a referendum.
town. While a student at St. Kieran's College, Kilkenny he began breeding pigs in his spare time. Rather than move on to university, Crotty pursued his interest in agriculture by going to work for a farmer relative in 1942. A year later he undertook a 12-month course at the Albert Agricultural College
in Glasnevin
, Dublin. In 1945, Crotty purchased a 204 acre (0.82555944 km²) farm in Dunbell, not far from Kilkenny, and spent the next two decades putting into practice his developing knowledge of agricultural production.
In 1956, while still a farmer, Crotty enrolled as a distance-learning student at the University of London
, obtaining a B.Sc.(Econ.) degree in 1959. He spent two further years studying for a M.Sc.(econ.) degree at the London School of Economics
. In 1961, he obtained a post as lecturer in Agricultural Economics at University of Wales
, Aberystwyth
. During the 1960s, Crotty sold his farm and became an economic adviser to various development agencies, including the World Bank
. His work brought him to various parts of the developing world, including Latin America
, India
, and Africa
. In 1976 he received a fellowship at the University of Sussex
. In 1982, he became a lecturer in statistics at Trinity College, Dublin
.
Crotty was a prolific writer, producing books, pamphlets, articles, and letters on subjects such as economics, history, and Ireland's involvement with Europe. His final work, When Histories Collide: The Development and Impact of Individualistic Capitalism, was edited by his son Raymond and published posthumously in 2001. It is an economic history of mankind from the earliest stages of human development to the present day. Reviewing it on behalf of the American Sociological Association
, Professor Michael Mann
of University of California, Los Angeles
(UCLA) described it as "an extraordinary book by an extraordinary man" and "a must-read".
Raymond Crotty and his wife Bridget had seven children. He died at St. Vincent's Hospital
, Dublin, at the age of 68 and is buried in Tulla Cemetery, outside Kilkenny.
, who held that land should never be owned by private individuals. Crotty believed that Irish agriculture would be damaged if Ireland joined the European Economic Community
(EEC) as, instead of becoming more efficient, farmers would grow to depend on external subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy
(CAP).
Furthermore, Crotty maintained that Ireland's status as an ex-colony made it unsuited for membership of a bloc of nations that included former colonial powers. In 1962, in the early stages of the public debate on whether Ireland should join the EEC, Crotty expressed his concerns about the possible loss of Ireland's national identity within what he termed a "European super state". In a reference to the country's troubled history, he suggested that it was: In 1972, Crotty joined Trinity College academic, Anthony Coughlan
, in opposing Ireland's accession to the EEC. Over the next twenty years, he campaigned against further integration of Ireland into the EEC, most notably during the attempts to ratify the Single European Act
in the mid-1980s (see Crotty v. An Taoiseach
). He stood for election in the 1989 European Parliament election
as a candidate in the Dublin
constituency. He received 25,525 votes (5.69% of the valid votes cast), not enough to elect him. In 1992, Crotty once again allied himself with Anthony Coughlan in urging Irish voters to reject the Maastricht Treaty
in the referendum
held on 18 June.
Despite failing to win majority support for his views in elections and referendums, Crotty continued his campaign against Ireland's membership of the European Union
up to the end of his life.
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
economist and campaigner against Irish membership of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. In 1987 he mounted a successful legal challenge in the Irish Supreme Court against the government's attempt to ratify the Single European Act
Single European Act
The Single European Act was the first major revision of the 1957 Treaty of Rome. The Act set the European Community an objective of establishing a Single Market by 31 December 1992, and codified European Political Cooperation, the forerunner of the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy...
without reference to the people in a referendum.
Life and career
Raymond Crotty grew up in KilkennyKilkenny
Kilkenny is a city and is the county town of the eponymous County Kilkenny in Ireland. It is situated on both banks of the River Nore in the province of Leinster, in the south-east of Ireland...
town. While a student at St. Kieran's College, Kilkenny he began breeding pigs in his spare time. Rather than move on to university, Crotty pursued his interest in agriculture by going to work for a farmer relative in 1942. A year later he undertook a 12-month course at the Albert Agricultural College
Albert College (Dublin)
Albert College is the oldest building on the campus of Dublin City University and contains the offices of the university president, the DCU Educational Trust, and other executive offices of the university; the building dates from 1851. The Albert College Building also houses the , a restaurant for...
in Glasnevin
Glasnevin
Glasnevin is a largely residential neighbourhood of Dublin, Ireland.-Geography:A mainly residential neighbourhood, it is located on the Northside of the city of Dublin . It was originally established on the northern bank of the River Tolka...
, Dublin. In 1945, Crotty purchased a 204 acre (0.82555944 km²) farm in Dunbell, not far from Kilkenny, and spent the next two decades putting into practice his developing knowledge of agricultural production.
In 1956, while still a farmer, Crotty enrolled as a distance-learning student at the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
, obtaining a B.Sc.(Econ.) degree in 1959. He spent two further years studying for a M.Sc.(econ.) degree at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. In 1961, he obtained a post as lecturer in Agricultural Economics at University of Wales
University of Wales
The University of Wales was a confederal university founded in 1893. It had accredited institutions throughout Wales, and formerly accredited courses in Britain and abroad, with over 100,000 students, but in October 2011, after a number of scandals, it withdrew all accreditation, and it was...
, Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth
Aberystwyth is a historic market town, administrative centre and holiday resort within Ceredigion, Wales. Often colloquially known as Aber, it is located at the confluence of the rivers Ystwyth and Rheidol....
. During the 1960s, Crotty sold his farm and became an economic adviser to various development agencies, including the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
. His work brought him to various parts of the developing world, including Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, and Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
. In 1976 he received a fellowship at the University of Sussex
University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is an English public research university situated next to the East Sussex village of Falmer, within the city of Brighton and Hove. The University received its Royal Charter in August 1961....
. In 1982, he became a lecturer in statistics at Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin
Trinity College, Dublin , formally known as the College of the Holy and Undivided Trinity of Queen Elizabeth near Dublin, was founded in 1592 by letters patent from Queen Elizabeth I as the "mother of a university", Extracts from Letters Patent of Elizabeth I, 1592: "...we...found and...
.
Crotty was a prolific writer, producing books, pamphlets, articles, and letters on subjects such as economics, history, and Ireland's involvement with Europe. His final work, When Histories Collide: The Development and Impact of Individualistic Capitalism, was edited by his son Raymond and published posthumously in 2001. It is an economic history of mankind from the earliest stages of human development to the present day. Reviewing it on behalf of the American Sociological Association
American Sociological Association
The American Sociological Association , founded in 1905 as the American Sociological Society , is a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the discipline and profession of sociology by serving sociologists in their work and promoting their contributions to serve society.The ASA holds its...
, Professor Michael Mann
Michael Mann (sociologist)
Michael Mann is a British-born professor of Sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles and Visiting Research Professor at Queen's University Belfast. Mann holds dual British and US citizenships. He received his B.A. in Modern History from the University of Oxford in 1963 and his...
of University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
(UCLA) described it as "an extraordinary book by an extraordinary man" and "a must-read".
Raymond Crotty and his wife Bridget had seven children. He died at St. Vincent's Hospital
St. Vincent's University Hospital
St. Vincent's Hospital is a teaching hospital located at Elm Park, south of the city of Dublin, Ireland. It is at the junction of Merrion Road and Nutley Lane opposite the Merrion Centre and adjacent to Elm Park Golf Club.-History:St. Vincent's Hospital was founded in 1834 on St...
, Dublin, at the age of 68 and is buried in Tulla Cemetery, outside Kilkenny.
Opposition to the European Union
Crotty's knowledge and experience of agricultural economics shaped his attitude to Ireland's participation in Europe. His years as a farmer taught him that Irish agriculture was structured so as to discourage efficient use of the land. As he wrote later in his memoir, A Radical's Response: He grew to believe that agricultural efficiency could best be achieved by the imposition of an annual land tax. This would allow taxes on inputs and outputs to be removed or reduced and would encourage only those prepared to maximise the potential of their land to remain in farming. In putting forward this proposal, Crotty was reflecting the influence of the American economist, Henry GeorgeHenry George
Henry George was an American writer, politician and political economist, who was the most influential proponent of the land value tax, also known as the "single tax" on land...
, who held that land should never be owned by private individuals. Crotty believed that Irish agriculture would be damaged if Ireland joined the European Economic Community
European Economic Community
The European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
(EEC) as, instead of becoming more efficient, farmers would grow to depend on external subsidies under the Common Agricultural Policy
Common Agricultural Policy
The Common Agricultural Policy is a system of European Union agricultural subsidies and programmes. It represents 48% of the EU's budget, €49.8 billion in 2006 ....
(CAP).
Furthermore, Crotty maintained that Ireland's status as an ex-colony made it unsuited for membership of a bloc of nations that included former colonial powers. In 1962, in the early stages of the public debate on whether Ireland should join the EEC, Crotty expressed his concerns about the possible loss of Ireland's national identity within what he termed a "European super state". In a reference to the country's troubled history, he suggested that it was: In 1972, Crotty joined Trinity College academic, Anthony Coughlan
Anthony Coughlan
Anthony Coughlan is a left-wing academic, retired Senior Lecturer Emeritus in Social Policy at Trinity College and Secretary of the The National Platform for EU Research and Information Centre....
, in opposing Ireland's accession to the EEC. Over the next twenty years, he campaigned against further integration of Ireland into the EEC, most notably during the attempts to ratify the Single European Act
Single European Act
The Single European Act was the first major revision of the 1957 Treaty of Rome. The Act set the European Community an objective of establishing a Single Market by 31 December 1992, and codified European Political Cooperation, the forerunner of the European Union's Common Foreign and Security Policy...
in the mid-1980s (see Crotty v. An Taoiseach
Crotty v. An Taoiseach
Crotty v. An Taoiseach was a legal action taken in 1987 in the High Court of Ireland and in the Supreme Court on appeal by Raymond Crotty, historian and economist against the Irish Government...
). He stood for election in the 1989 European Parliament election
European Parliament election, 1989 (Ireland)
The 1989 European Parliament election in Ireland was the Irish component of the 1989 European Parliament election. The election was conducted under the single transferable vote.-Results:-Voting details:-See also:...
as a candidate in the Dublin
Dublin (European Parliament constituency)
Dublin is a constituency of the European Parliament in Ireland. It elects 3 Members of the European Parliament using the single transferable vote form of proportional representation .-History and boundaries:...
constituency. He received 25,525 votes (5.69% of the valid votes cast), not enough to elect him. In 1992, Crotty once again allied himself with Anthony Coughlan in urging Irish voters to reject the Maastricht Treaty
Maastricht Treaty
The Maastricht Treaty was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the same city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty...
in the referendum
Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland
The Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland permitted the state to ratify the Maastricht Treaty. It was effected by the Eleventh Amendment of the Constitution Act, 1992, which was approved by referendum on 18 June 1992 and signed into law on the 16 July of the same year.-Changes to the...
held on 18 June.
Despite failing to win majority support for his views in elections and referendums, Crotty continued his campaign against Ireland's membership of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
up to the end of his life.
Selected publications
- Irish Agricultural Production, Its Volume and Structure (Cork University Press, 1966)
- Cattle, Economics and Development (Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, 1980)
- Ireland in Crisis: A Study in Capitalist Colonial Undevelopment (Brandon, 1986)
- A Radical's Response (Poolbeg, 1988)
- When Histories Collide: The Development and Impact of Individualistic Capitalism (AltaMira Press, 2001)