Madam, – The release and detailed coverage of the official papers for the year 1979 may help equip ordinary citizens with a reality-based appreciation of their State’s evolving orientation.
A striking contrast occurs.
In 1979, official unease arose at a US request to allow 12,000 troops to pass through Shannon following a Nato exercise in Germany.
An explicit concern was whether Ireland’s traditional military neutrality would be “compromised”.
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Fast-forward 30 years. In 2009, 243,000 US combat troops passed through Shannon.
Arguably the documented 1979 precedent may belong historically in a Cold War context.
Nevertheless, an apparent sea-change developed over the next three decades. “Educate that you may be free” (Thomas Davis). – Yours, etc,