Brexit is going around in circles. Nobody is in control of the final outcome. The implications of Britain's likely departure from the EU remain hugely uncertain for all concerned.

With that in mind, and as we enter the final weeks of the 21st century's second decade, it is a good time to stand back and look at how the European Union and Ireland's place in it have evolved over the past 10 years.

The first weeks and months of the decade brought the beginnings of the biggest crisis in the history of the EU.

In January 2010 news began filtering out of Athens that the Greek government, unseated in an election in late 2009, had been cooking the books.

At the time, the continent was only just emerging from the worst recession in living memory, triggered by the financial crisis of late 2008.

The dawning revelation that the Greek state was bankrupt triggered a genuine crisis (a word debased by overuse) which, for the first time, threatened the continent's half-century-old experiment in economic and political integration.

The euro had been created on the basis that individual members would not be bailed out by others if they got into financial trouble. That rule went out the window in short order. As contagion spread, EU leaders held crisis summit after crisis summit over the following 30 months.

Ireland, already one of the weakest economies in the euro area owing to the bursting of its massive property bubble, was the second domino to fall.

By the end of 2010, the country was in a bailout along with Greece. Portugal followed. When Spain did too, fears that the euro would implode reached their height. Then, suddenly, in mid-2012, the crisis calmed. The man about to stand down as president of European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, said he would do "whatever it takes" to save the euro.

It worked, but crisis had consequences. It ended much of the idealism around the "European project" and gave those ideologically committed to "ever closer union" a lot to chew on.

It has also opened up lasting divisions between northern countries, which prioritise fiscal rectitude, and those to the south, which have weaker records on managing their public finances.

Ireland exited its bailout at the end of 2013. In retrospect, the traumatic experience has not changed the country's relationship with the EU or Irish attitudes to it as much as might have been anticipated during the bailout years.

By almost every measure public opinion has remained positive towards Europe. Even the frequently made (and massively exaggerated) charges that Europe heaped €65bn bank debt on the Irish people do not appear to have soured attitudes towards the EU.

At 'elite' level, the experience of the euro crisis and other issues, mostly related to Ireland's tax regime, may have made politicians, civil servants and some interest groups more sceptical about giving more powers to Brussels.

But more relevant is a view held in many capitals across the continent that the limits of integration are close to being reached in some areas, have been reached in others and have been surpassed in some others.

It is significant that the decade just ending is the first since the 1970s in which there has not been a major change to the EU's de facto constitution.

The second major division to open up within the bloc in the 2010s has been over asylum and immigration.

A spike in refugees in 2015, caused by both push and pull factors, led to an increase in support for political parties opposed to immigration.

Countries in which they are in power resisted proposals to "Europeanise" the issue.

Ireland's geography means it receives proportionately fewer refugees than some other member countries. As recent protests in rural towns against new refugee centres show, asylum policy is not uncontroversial here.

But the issue is not as politically charged as it is in almost every other European country. Nor is it linked in the public consciousness to the EU.

The third big shock for the EU in the 2010s came with the Brexit referendum in 2016. After only adding members over decades, a country decided to leave. Would Britain's departure cause others to depart? Would divisions emerge among the remaining 27 countries on how to handle the departure?

Both questions were widely asked after the British referendum. Both questions have largely been answered.

On the first, there is little sign that peoples or governments in other EU countries want to follow Britain out the door. Unlike the euro crisis, there has not been a domino effect. Three-and-a-half years on, the difficulty of unscrambling the million eggs of EU membership has been amply demonstrated.

On the second question, the EU has surprised itself with the degree of unity there has been towards Brexiting Britain. Ireland, and the position taken on the border on this island, has been front and centre.

The decision by Ireland and the EU to prevent a change to the border between the two parts of this island by putting one between Northern Ireland and Britain has had wide support politically and among the public.

The willingness of other EU countries to give so much support over such a long period to Ireland's position will surely solidify support for Ireland's membership over the longer term.

The position has also had wider implications for the bloc.

Other smaller EU countries have noted with some satisfaction the leverage a small member has had in dealing with a large (soon-to-be) non-member. For countries rubbing up against the likes of Russia and Turkey, this is a source of considerable security.

And it is the area of security in which most EU countries have come to believe over the course of the current decade that European integration could go further.

Relations between democratic Europe and both Russia and Turkey have deteriorated sharply. The Middle East and Africa have become greater sources of insecurity.

To the west, the US has ceased to be the source of security it was for so many decades, as events in northern Syria have underscored over the past two weeks.

If there is a foreseeable future of European integration in the decade to come, it is likely to be in the area of security and defence. If that happens it will bring a significant change to Ireland's relationship with the EU, one way or the other.

Irish Independent