Sir, – Dave Alvey (Letters, December 5th) claims that the ability of the Government to respond to the multiple challenges presented by Brexit is weakened by too close a friendship with the United Kingdom.
By implication he suggests Ireland will struggle to have its own interests and prerogatives recognised in the Brexit negotiations once (if?) British prime minister Theresa May triggers article 50.
But far from being viewed as a surrogate of the UK, Ireland charts a completely independent course in Brussels.
That we enjoy a very positive relationship with the United Kingdom is surely something most reasonable people will applaud.
One of the great paradoxes thrown up by our membership of the European Union since 1973 is that, as our economic dependence on the UK reduced very significantly, the political relationship deepened appreciably. The relations of trust forged in the margins of the Council of Ministers in Brussels constituted one important element which facilitated rapprochement.
The enactment of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 enhanced the relationship further.
Arguably, from an early stage in the 1970s, Irish officials learned to “play the European game” much better than their UK counterparts and, as a consequence, developed a reputation for collegiality which British officials never enjoyed.
Through all this time Irish representatives in Brussels sought determinedly to pursue purely Irish positions independent of the UK.
Irish and British interests converge around Northern Ireland in particular and it is only right that Dublin co-operates as closely as possible with London to achieve the best possible outcome for the people of this island.
– Yours, etc,
Prof JOHN O’BRENNAN,
Jean Monnet Chair of
European Integration,
Maynooth University.