This book seeks to explain how The New Irish State was created in the aftermath of the treaty by those who accepted it because, while it fell short of the desired republic,it gave the Irish,  in the words of Michael collins "The Freedom to Achieve Freedom". It is the story of those who guided the state through that difficult period: their choices, decisions and actions, and the institutions they created. 

There is a huge library of books on the Irish revolutionary period but a dearth of material on the first ten years of independent Ireland. This book fills that gap in the literature. Freedom to Achieve Freedom reviews the processes of state building and the policies adopted in all the major areas of government, paying particular attention to law and order, the creation of the Irish public service, land, health, education, and the Irish language, as well as other areas of public policy.