Sign up to The Irish Times Archive (1859 - 2008)My Account »

OPINION:As the Green Party meets to consider its stance on Lisbon II, a long-standing peace activist argues for a Yes vote, writes JOHN GOODWILLIE

THE HISTORY of Irish neutrality is made up of two intermingled strands.There is a strand of defining Ireland as separate from Great Britain and therefore not bound by the great power politics that Britain is involved in. This strand can be traced from Wolfe Tone’s pamphlet on the Spanish war in 1790 to Seán MacBride’s decision in 1949 not to join Nato because it would involve recognising the Border. This strand surely is now exhausted: no one can doubt Ireland’s freedom from a specifically British domination.