Sir, - Simon Partridge (December 10th) suggests that "if the Republic did decide to rejoin the Commonwealth, it would reconnect with some 17 million people of Irish extraction". In what way, reconnect? Ireland is already connected to those people and their nations by ties far stronger and more meaningful than the silly Commonwealth club. Worryingly, Mr. Partridge also raises the spectre of Commonwealth membership as a Unionist precondition.
This myth that Ireland is in some way weakened in international politics by its non-membership status is remarkably widespread, given that it is so self-evidently untrue. John Fallon (December 10th) suggests that Ireland is perceived internationally as a "vague entity", as though a nation of almost four million people could expect a permanent Security Council seat. The truth is that Ireland is remarkably strong and influential for a nation of its size and population, and will remain so as an independent nation. Can the same be said about those model Commonwealth members Belize, the Gambia and Kiribati? - Yours, etc., Ben Walsh,
San Francisco, CA 94110.