Madam, - Denis Staunton's thoughtful pieces from Warsaw together with your Editorial of May 18th prompt me to acquaint readers with the role that Ireland played in the formation of the Council of Europe.
Enthusiastically in favour of European unification, Irish Minister for External Affairs Seán MacBride was one of the founding members of the Council of Europe.
Some of the provisions in the statute signed in London on May 3rd, 1949 were inserted at his suggestion.
He took an active part in the work of the council and was the first foreign minister to address the consultative assembly; indeed it was he who proposed Strasbourg as the venue, and who opened the new buildings for the Council of Europe.
Much credit has been given to Seán MacBride for his skill in bringing together the Council of Ministers and nurturing the fledgling Council of Europe. The real triumph, however, was the establishment of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms which, even though he felt wasn't far-reaching enough, he signed in Rome on November 4th, 1950 as a step in the right direction.
Within a decade, MacBride again made history by bringing the very first case (Lawless) of an individual against his government to the European Court of Human Rights - never imagining, I'm sure, that so many years later there would be 80,000 cases pending. - Yours, etc.,
CAITRIONA LAWLOR, Redesdale Road, Mount Merrion, Co Dublin.