It saddens me to see the Irish government speak the rhetoric of the US, UK and most of the Nato nations about adhering to a rules-based international order (RBIO) to hypocritically condemn the Russia invasion of Ukraine while they ignore their own deeds as the biggest violators of a RBIO who today and in the past have brutally invaded and subjugated countless sovereign nations with their own military might. I believe the Irish people see through this duplicity and that is why we embrace Irish neutrality and condemn all invaders equally.
This tripartite government in Dublin will proudly defend the Ukrainian regime’s right to fight for its sovereignty but has never challenged them on their unjust treatment of their fellow Russian-speaking citizens, and at the same time they can accept that a foreign country (England) with its military might had the right to subjugate the will of the Irish people and our sovereignty with their brutal partition of our country.
The taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, in March 2023 implied that appeasement of Russia had failed to stop the war in Ukraine and said: “We know from our history from what happened in the 1930s and 1940s, what happens when you continue with an appeasement policy that’s failing.”
His selective history lesson leading to the Second World War with the Axis and Allied powers is plain to see and we in Ireland remember how appeasement to the threats of war from the British Empire in the 1920s still has our people divided. Go talk to the people of India and see how appeasement to the Imperial British Raj left their great country partitioned under sectarian grounds from 1947 and is still sadly locked in conflict.
Maybe the taoiseach should reflect on the formation of the Blueshirts who, inspired by the values of European fascists and under General O’Duffy (a leader of Fine Gael), went on to lead an Irish brigade in Spain against the democratic government in support of the brutal dictator General Franco.
It is also ironic that the ultra-nationalists in Ukraine disgracefully honour to this day their involvement with Nazi Germany and at the same time President Zelensky claims Ukraine is fighting for Europe’s freedom and values. There must be no drift in our beliefs that Ireland will always support peace and reconciliation among nations over war and domination.
MICHAEL HAGAN
Dunmurry, Co Antrim
Irish neutrality in practice an elaborate fiction
During the Great War the Irish were sacrificed as cannon fodder fighting for imperial Britain against imperial Germany in a senseless carnage. The perspective of Irish nationalism was encapsulated in the WB Yeats poem An Irish Airman Foresees His Death. He reflects that “those that I fight (Germans) I do not hate... those that I guard (British) I do not love”. This cognitive dissonance was eventually resolved with the anti-conscription slogan “We serve neither king nor kaiser but Ireland”. This was a rational, appropriate strategy given the madness of First World War. But this neutrality, as reaction to the slaughter, has seemingly become a sacrosanct policy of Ireland set in stone for all eternity.
The Republic’s neutrality during the Second World War was much more problematic. It included a brief flirtation with Mussolini’s fascism via the Blueshirts. Most disturbing was the ignominious, indeed notorious expression of condolences on the defeat of the Third Reich delivered by de Valera to the German consulate in Dublin – after the German death camps had been exposed. Being neutral between the western democracies and this evil, genocidal regime – even nominally – seems completely inexcusable.
Fast forward to the present Ukraine/Russian conflict. It is surely impossible for Ireland, with its long, sad history of occupation, to take a neutral stance. Vladimir Putin claimed rather prematurely that liberal democracy was ‘obsolete’. Instead he has become a recruitment agent for Nato. He must be shocked by the ferocity of Ukrainian resistance to the Russian invasion and the solidarity shown by western democracies in supporting Ukraine. The Republic is now the only EU country (except Austria) which is not in Nato and does not have a viable military capability. It outsources its air defences to the RAF and is aligned with Nato for its de facto security, co-operating closely with the US. Irish ‘neutrality’ in practice is something of an elaborate fiction.
Thankfully, Ireland seems to be shifting its stance on neutrality. It has recently convened a Consultative Forum on International Security Policy containing representatives from Finland and Sweden who have abandoned neutrality in favour of Nato membership.
It has also been involved in 20 military projects organised by Pesco – an organisation which aims to deepen defence co-operation between EU member states.
Ireland has benefited from access to all the economic advantages of membership of the EU but has been a free-rider in terms of contribution to the defence of Europe despite being an affluent country. Hopefully, given the very clear and present danger from the Russian bear, Ireland may now, like Sweden and Finland, demonstrate more commitment to Pesco and perhaps even join Nato.
It will ultimately be a decision for the Irish people. However, given these troubled times, it is clear that it is neutrality that has become obsolete.
GEORGE WORKMAN
Donabate, Co Dublin
Increasing need for palliative care
With Marie Curie marking its 75th anniversary it’s gratifying to know that since 1948, the charity has helped millions of people affected by terminal illness, bereavement and grief. That’s a service to be proud of but we need to highlight that not everyone who could benefit from expert palliative care gets that care and demand will experience a sharp increase in the next 25 years. The need for end-of-life care in Northern Ireland is expected to rise by 32 per cent by 2048. Analysis shows Northern Ireland is facing the highest demand for palliative care in the UK by 2048.
We are not just talking about more people with terminal cancer needing that care.
Northern Ireland is already struggling to meet the demand for care from people who are terminally ill, and with the huge pressures on our system, staff and finances, this is only going to get worse. Despite the overwhelming evidence and need a fit-for-purpose, fully-funded palliative care strategy to address this, Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK that does not have support for its terminally ill and dying population written into policy. It needs to be addressed so everyone here gets the support they need.
JOAN McEWAN
Marie Curie
History lesson for Ms Lockhart
DUP MP Carla Lockhart has stated that the burning of bonfires is to commemorate the lighting of fires in ‘Northern Ireland’ to show King William the way to the Battle of Boyne. Carla, for your information, there was no such place as ‘Northern Ireland’ in 1690.
TONY CARROLL
Newry, Co Down
