Sir, – When can we expect to see “Brits In” daubed on the walls of Belfast and Dublin? – Yours, etc,
MICHAEL MOLONEY,
Tallaght,
Dublin 24.
Sir, – So, a special status for Britain, should it stay. Perhaps an extra-special status is required for Ireland should Britain leave? – Yours, etc,
JOHN O’CONNELL,
Letterkenny,
Co Donegal.
Sir, – Is Great Britain now to have dominion status within the European Union? – Yours, etc,
JEAN WALKER, PhD
Ballivor,
Co. Meath.
Sir, – The decision of the largest unionist party, the DUP, to recommend voting to leave the EU is remarkable and historic.
Clearly these unionists favour an Ireland of the future divided between a part in the EU and a part outside the EU, with all the inconvenience this division would involve for people, North and South.
More remarkably, since a Brexit would trigger another Scottish referendum, these unionists favour a departure from the EU that, in all probability, would lead to a break-up of the United Kingdom, Scottish independence and a repeal of the 1707 Act of Union. – Yours, etc,
SEÁN McDONAGH
Raheny, Dublin 5.
Sir, – The Lithuanian president was right to describe David Cameron’s lengthy talks with other EU leaders as a drama, made to look as if the reforms he wanted were hard won. It is now clear that the threat of Brexit was only a charade, an excuse for Europe to progress its neoliberal agenda. The agreement concluded offers protection to the City of London, affirms support for free trade and free investment agreements, and confirms the rights of money to travel freely, while restricting the freedom of movement of European citizens. It is utterly undemocratic, unless all the people of Europe are called to vote on it. Many, like me, must have felt a deep sense of betrayal when we learned the details of it. Sadly, Europe seems bent on alienating the very citizens who believed most strongly in the European project. That is the path to self-destruction. – Yours, etc,
CLAUDINE GAIDONI,
Dublin 7.
Sir, – The pretence that a country, permanently pledged against closer union,with rights of derogation from chosen EU rules, with a separate currency, with some exclusions from financial burden-sharing, and so on, can remain a full member of the European Union is nonsense. Britain is no longer a full member of the team. Brexit has occurred. Truth be told, we now have “Brunion”. The EU has been broken. The expected June referendum on Britain’s EU membership is a farce. It is not the long-awaited “in or out” choice of the British citizens. That has been replaced by a choice between a fudged associate membership and non-membership.
Unless the reality is acknowledged, further weaknesses to the European Union are likely to occur and lead to its eventual collapse. – Yours, etc,
ALBERT PARKINSON,
Greystones,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – Did David Cameron return from Brussels with a piece of fudge for our time? – Yours, etc,
PATRICK O’BYRNE,
Phibsborough,
Dublin 7.