Later this week, he will become president of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), one of the European Union\u2019s<\/a> (EU) lesser known bodies. <\/p>\n \u201cThis is where I look around and say how in the name of God did I get here?\u201d Boland says. <\/p>\n The EU forum was set up in 1958 to give civil society, trade unions and business some input into the European policymaking machine. <\/p>\n \u201cI grew up experiencing poverty: the usual making ends meet, all of that on a small farm \u2026 I\u2019m old enough to remember electricity coming in,\u201d he says. \u201cI know how grinding it is and I know how horrific it is, and I know how difficult it is.\u201d<\/p>\n When Ireland joined what became the EU in the early 1970s, Boland was \u201cat home on the farm literally eking out a living\u201d. <\/p>\n \u201cMy love of Europe, and it is a love, starts from the fact that it made a massive change in Ireland,\u201d he says. Membership of the political and economic union transformed Ireland from a \u2018peasant society\u2019 into a modern, western country,” he says, adding: \u201cIt changed everything.\u201d<\/p>\n There is a danger that Irish people could begin to forget the positive role the EU played in the Republic\u2019s development or could take the European project for granted, he says. <\/p>\n [\u00a0\u2018We need a big bang\u2019: The defence industry\u2019s push to shape Europe\u2019s military rearmamentOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n Speaking to The Irish Times in his office in Brussels, Boland is still wondering aloud to himself how he ended up here. Tom\u00e1s Roseingrave, an Irish-language enthusiast and member of Muintir na T\u00edre, is the only previous Irish president of the EU committee, a role he held in the early 1980s. <\/p>\n \u201cFrankly when I was 13\u00bd and left school, every statistician would have said: \u2018Well, he will never move beyond that level\u2019,\u201d Boland says.<\/p>\n But Boland got involved with the rural youth organisation Macra na Feirme, which he describes as his \u201cthird-level education\u201d. <\/p>\n He started writing plays. He recalls one about a young priest leaving the priesthood; another told the story of a Traveller girl becoming involved with the son of a farmer. \u201cI haven\u2019t written anything in recent years \u2026 I keep saying when I grow up and settle down, I\u2019ll go back to that,\u201d Boland says. <\/p>\n He attended college to study speech and drama and later worked with the Traveller community, teaching people \u201cwho couldn\u2019t read or write,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n![\"Séamus](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5H6TF3JVFFBNNEL3BUBMDGXERA.JPG\")
S\u00e9amus Boland says Ireland joining the EU ‘changed everything’. Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien\/ The Irish Times <\/p>\n
![\"Séamus](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/A3ZLE65M6VAKHHXQUOTGAOKYN4.JPG\")
S\u00e9amus Boland pictured on his farm in Co Offaly. Photograph: Bryan O\u2019Brien <\/p>\n