Sir, - Last week's No vote in the Nice Treaty referendum is a serious blow to Ireland's standing in the emerging markets of Eastern Europe. Many of the proponents of Ireland's neutrality cite non-alignment as having a positive effect on the perception of Ireland around the world. The rejection of Nice by the majority of those that bothered to vote does far more damage to our credibility than the perception of neutrality can ever compensate for.
The No vote appears to those accession states of Eastern Europe as a gross act of selfishness, on the part of a nation that has pulled itself up from the bootstraps with much help from the Union. Not to afford the same opportunity to our less well-off neighbours to the East is immoral.
To deal with this impasse, it is perhaps time that Ireland conducts an extensive debate on neutrality rather than somehow trying to weave the issue into pre-conditions to our signing up for Nice. Seeking such pre-conditions would be wrong, as it would point to Ireland as being willing to consume but not to contribute.
As the geopolitical picture stands today, Ireland is not neutral. We are a major participant in and beneficiary of membership in the European Union and the Western world in general. In the hard-to-imagine scenario that Ireland's security was seriously threatened, we do not have the ability to defend ourselves from a 21st century hostile force, nor could we ever afford to do so on our own. Real neutrality includes having the ability to put up a credible defence of your territory. For us Irish to willingly seek and receive all the benefits of EU citizenship, without being prepared to accept all the responsibilities, is not on. Demanding equality of rights and status, must assume an underlying equality of duty.
In the unlikely event that any part of the EU was under military threat, why on earth should we think we should not have to step up to bat along with everyone else? If Ireland were threatened, we would certainly need to look for help.
The view of neutrality as some precious grail is naive, Ireland has changed utterly since 1939, our economy is interwoven into the very fabric of Europe. We must face up to our responsibilities as active citizens of Ireland and Europe and enthusiastically embrace our moral duties to the provision of European security. Although Nice does not in itself erode neutrality, the illusion of Irish neutrality should be cast aside. It is only advocated by those who have a rose-tinted view of the real world and who are apt to take everything but give nothing. - Yours, etc.,
Declan J. Ganley, Ganley Group of Companies, Moyne Park, Tuam, Co Galway.