Grace Fuchs is a rising junior majoring in global affairs and philosophy. Through Notre Dame Dublin’s Irish Internship Program, she is working this summer with ARINS (Analysing and Researching Ireland North and South), a joint project of the Keough-Naughton Institute for Irish Studies in Notre Dame’s Keough School of Global Affairs and the Royal Irish Academy.
Below she shares some of her viewpoints on what America and Ireland can learn from each other based on analyses of news reports and publicly available data as well as her firsthand observations in both countries.
On July 4th, I will not be celebrating the 250th anniversary of my country with my country. Instead, I will be watching from Ireland — a country deeply woven into US history and mythology, yet different enough for the nations to feel unfamiliar at times.
While the 250th is a time for celebration, anniversaries are also a place for reflection. My distance provides me room to compare two nations that are not mirror images, one is a superpower, one is a republic. One has historically projected strength, while the other has a strong history of neutrality and diplomacy. However, both have colonial history, migration, mythology, and democracies. Understanding those with similar history to us can help find avenues for progress. It is not to say that the two are the same, it is just to find the similarities and compare differences in policy that can be applied to make our allies stronger. Each can reflect lessons for the other to learn from.
Below I explore three lessons that the United States can learn from Ireland. Check out my second blog post for three lessons Ireland can learn from the US.
Ar scáth a chéile a mhaireann na daoine.
It is in the shelter of each other that people live.
In 2023, the Office of the Surgeon General announced that the United States has an epidemic of “loneliness and isolation.” He pointed to a worrying trend that for many individuals, spending time with friends, family, and in their communities has fallen — with one in two Americans reporting loneliness. The Survey Center on American Life found similar statistics — more than 21 percent of Americans report having no access to commercial and public spaces, and 36 percent report having minimal access to these spaces. Together, these figures suggest a society struggling not only with loneliness, but with the disappearance of the spaces and patterns that make community possible.
This should be concerning for Americans not just as a question of mental health, but of democracy. A democracy must include inclusive spaces to gather without a price — parks, libraries, pubs, churches, neighborhoods. While Ireland is not immune to loneliness, being considered “the most lonely country in Europe” as labeled by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, facing housing, emigration, and inequality concerns, it has a culture of social proximity that America appears to lack. Looking out my office window, I see public parks filled with picnickers, pubs serving as informal gathering places, questions such as “where are you from” and “how is your family” serving to build community instead of isolation.
While cultural community seems apparent, policywise the Irish focus on work-life balance fosters an environment to form community instead of chasing a quota or deadline. The Organisation of Working Time Act 1997 mandates at least four weeks of paid vacation per year, and 10 paid public holidays. Further, the two-tiered healthcare system, while imperfect, does not tie healthcare to corporate employment. Lastly, the university system allows for limited student debt. While policy does not necessarily create community, it serves as an example of how a society can take steps to provide spaces for people to fight loneliness.
The American economy is strong, but a society cannot ask people to chase productivity while wondering why they feel alone. If the United States wants to promote its ideals of liberty, freedom, and progress, it must make more room for citizens to be communal — celebrating family, friendships, belonging, and the idea-making that makes America great. As the Irish phrase puts it, people live in the shelter of each other.
Sustainable farming is national security
America is facing an agricultural resilience crisis. Post-Covid, American farmers are struggling due to rising input costs, and decreasing prices for products. In April of 2025, the tariffs on key metals such as steel, aluminum and copper imposed by President Trump increased the cost for farm equipment, including tractors, combines, and harvesters. Fortune Magazine reported, “China’s retaliation resulted in a virtual boycott on American soybeans, and exports collapsed to just $3 billion in 2025 from a peak of nearly $18 billion in 2022.” These figures highlight that during geopolitical conflicts, food security quietly becomes leverage.
Long-term trends are similarly concerning. Since the last Farm Bill was passed in 2018, the United States has lost 150,000 farms as cited by Senator Cory Booker during debates over the 2026 Farm Bill. USDA data backs this claim, finding that between 2017 and 2022, the US fell below 2 million farms, losing over 140,000 farms. PBS reported that severe droughts and rainfall are damaging crops, while soil health is being depleted. These issues compound, causing a severe agricultural crisis.
Meanwhile, Ireland is currently ranked second in global food security, according to the latest Global Food Security Index. In the Food Vision 2030 strategy, set by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, the Irish government set goals for rapid sustainable development of farms, while also following the EU Common Agriculture Policy (CAP), allowing for advancement of trade and the growth of agricultural markets. Their efforts — primarily in dairy and livestock — generated a significant surplus, reported by Teagasc research. While Ireland is limited in biodiversity, a surge in focus for sustainable and regenerative agriculture shows efforts to bridge the gap between carbon efficient agriculture and biodiversity. The focus on local products, and increasing the sustainability of these markets allows for Ireland to continue to have usable land, diminishing the effects of climate change on the agricultural markets.
When comparing tariff structures, Ireland is more insulated from some market shocks. The CAP allows for Ireland to be less impacted by market volatility, as the EU allows for free trade of products, supports income, market measures, and environmental conditions, which means geopolitical actions will not as severely impact Ireland as the US. Ireland is certainly not perfect when it comes to agriculture, with farmers recently protesting rising fuel costs and cost-of-living pressures. However, Ireland recognizes farming as a national strategic concern, linking food security, sustainability, export strength, and rural life as connected issues.
US political focus has shifted to focus on corporations, trade policy, and urban voters. The lesson Ireland shows the US is that farming is a national security issue, requiring thoughtful policies intended to strengthen rural life, promote sustainability, and increase market independence in agriculture..
Soft power works
The last aspect I feel the US should learn from Ireland is regarding soft power. When the US cut USAID funding it meant that massive programs designed to maintain the US as a strong ally for the world were severed. In the second Trump administration, trust has significantly decreased. While America seeks to use soft power in terms of culture, primarily it seeks military strength and traditional hard power. This methodology has resulted in staggeringly low approval ratings, with a poll by the European Council on Foreign Affairs finding that only one in 15 Europeans view the US as an ally. For a country based on exporting ideals, the decline in soft power has come at a cost.
Meanwhile, Ireland's approach to neutrality has gained international favor, and their soft power — from exporting St. Patrick’s Day, to Guinness, has been remarkably favorable. More than 70 million people worldwide claim Irish heritage, a key point in helping Ireland have a strong global stage. By exporting diplomats on St. Patrick’s Day, and leveraging its history as a non-imperial nation, the exportation of Ireland via soft power has been particularly successful. Their lack of significant military prowess points to this as well. Without force, Ireland has shaped itself as a diplomatic weapon, and a strong ally to many in the UN. It serves as an example of why soft power is so important to maintaining global relations.
The US should relearn why we were so influential. We did not simply export products, but ideas and values. Military strength is important, and encouraging others to increase defense spending is critical, but influence is not just economic and military. Sports — such as the World Cup — help show international fans what American culture is, from music to landscapes to food. A stronger emphasis must be placed on soft power and its exportation. Like the Irish, America has the ability to export its culture to encourage diplomacy. We should do so again.
Read Grace Fuchs’ second blog post, “What Ireland can learn from America.”