One of the key challenges today is achieving a sustainable energy transition. This has been underscored by the recent events at COP21, Paris, with the terms set out in the agreement designed to harness international political will to meet this challenge beyond 2020, when the Kyoto Protocol expires. The EU’s climate and energy strategy, in many ways, has pre-empted this development with its 2011 Energy Roadmap by projecting plans to develop its energy system out to 2050. Given the different energy infrastructures in place across the different member states, a specifically European challenge presents itself in terms of implementing an effective and integrated suite of polices that meet the shared objectives of a general de-carbonisation of the energy network with greater sustainability and security through indigenous supply. A key question in this regard is how are current policy frameworks positioned to meet these challenges? Another is looking at the Irish context for energy transition, are policies here fit for purpose? This paper presents a comparative analysis of Irish policy related to energy transition in the context of wider European experiences, specifically comparing with the policy contexts of four other European countries (France, Spain, Italy and the UK). The paper also examines how these policies are structured in an Irish context, outlining the instruments used to realise government objectives and the degree of policy integration and coherence present to ensure successful outcomes. Acknowledging the role different stakeholders play within their respective energy systems, and how these roles in turn impact on the national and supranational policy objectives is also considered. Research for this paper has been conducted as part of the H2020 ENTRUST project, an interdisciplinary research project exploring the human factor in the energy system.