A chara, – Many of the questions asked by Paul Gillespie (“Fresh evidence and perspectives on Irish neutrality are sorely needed”, Opinion & Analysis, June 10th) are pertinent to the work of the Government’s Consultative Forum on International Security Policy and deserving of close attention.
However, when he refers to “proposals that Ireland either join or associate with the more active Non-Alignment Movement now that the world is moving towards a greater number of equal poles beyond US hegemony published by the Irish Political Review Group”, his words may create a false impression.
Our submission to the Forum will be firmly based on the relevance of de Valera’s legacy to Irish foreign policy at the present time. That legacy has certainly received a boost from the tentative emergence of a multi-polar world order as championed by the Non-Aligned Movement, and that subject has indeed been discussed and welcomed in our publications.
But over the years the main focus of our work regarding foreign policy has been detailed historical accounts of the development of Ireland’s neutrality policy, drawing on the writings of Roger Casement as well as speeches by de Valera. Despite many efforts to undermine public confidence in that policy, it has consistently retained the support of two-thirds of the electorate.
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Compared to the alternative of coat-tailing the hawkish policies being pursued by the US, Britain and the EU, maintaining continuity with the State’s traditional policy has the double merit of being both a genuine reflection of the historical experience of the Irish people and consonant with the contemporary desire for a more equitable world order. – Yours, etc,
DAVE ALVEY,
Irish Political Review Group,
Bray,
Co Wicklow.
