Sir, – Finland’s accession to Nato inspires Kevin Nolan to call for Ireland to “take on similar responsibility”, claiming that we would thereby “share the burden” for “the future of democracy, human rights . . . and the course of society ahead” (Letters, April 6th).
On joining Nato, Finland’s first step was to buy the David’s Sling medium-range air defence system from Israel “at a cost of $345 million, not including VAT, with options adding up to an additional $236 million”, according to the website thedrive.com.
Leaving aside the question whether a deal with an apartheid rogue state such as Israel can truly contribute to “the future of democracy [and] human rights”, we might wonder whether Ireland’s grossly dysfunctional housing and health systems would be much enhanced by an investment of almost $600 million in military hardware.
We know how those panting for Ireland to join Nato would answer. The rest of us should be a little more circumspect. – Yours, etc,
RAYMOND DEANE,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – How many wake-up calls does Ireland need in addressing its isolation?
The idea that the country was “not set up” to monitor properly incidents like the Russian “visitors” manoeuvring off the West coast gives cause for alarm (“Russian ships spotted off west coast was a ‘cheap way to send a threat’”, News, April 3rd).
For too long has Ireland basked under protection “from elsewhere”, while deluding itself as to its “sovereignty”.
The question remains: what will it take for the arguments of those voices of Irish neutrality, now holed below the waterline, to be superseded in this volatile world? – Yours, etc,
PADDY McEVOY,
March,
Cambridgeshire,
UK.