Abstract
This paper examines the involvement of the Irish government, along with governments of other member states of the then EEC, in the direct provision of food aid to Poland in 1980-81. It argues that the food aid policy was designed to serve three distinct, but related, ends: humanitarian, development and security, and that it was the single most important element of the EEC's response to the new dynamic injected into the political scene in Poland as a result of the emergence of the trade union Solidarnosc 'Solidarity', in the aftermath of the Gdansk shipyard strike of August 1980. The paper explores the origins of the food aid policy at EEC level in late 1980; the subsequent internal debate within Irish government departments as to the pros and cons of participation in the programme; and the implementation of decisions relating to the provision of food aid during 1981.
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