Five prominent thinkers from five EU countries offer personal reflections on the idea of Europe at this critical moment in its history.

Today, writer and journalist Fintan O'Toole contemplates the view from Ireland.

Producers: Justine Willett and Emma Harding

Fintan O'Toole is an assistant editor of, and a columnist with, The Irish Times. His work has appeared in many international newspapers and magazines, including The New Yorker, the New York Review of Books, Granta, The Guardian, the New York Times and the Washington Post. His books include 'Enough is Enough is Enough: How to Build a New Republic' (2010), 'Ship of Fools: How Stupidity and Corruption Sank the Celtic Tiger' (2009), 'The Irish Times Book of the 1916 Rising' (2006), and 'Shakespeare is Hard but so is Life' (2002). Show less