Sir, - John Gormley, TD (May 20th) tries to make a palpable point against the PfP when he asserts that Ireland is already in a "partnership for peace": the United Nations. It is a pity to ruin such fine rhetoric with an unpleasant fact, but Mr Gormley must be aware that we are also members of another "partnership for peace": the European Union.
The EU was also founded in the wake of the second World War, with a goal that wars would never happen again in Europe. We hear a lot about the rule of the EU in Northern Ireland, mostly within the context of the Peace Process. This sets into sharp relief indeed the abysmal role the EU has played in Yugoslavia, and the even more abysmal role the Irish have played within the EU. While Bosnia bled, the major European issue for Ireland was whether we would get £8 billion or £6 billion as our slice of "cohesion funds". Since Kosovo's autonomy was abolished by Slobodan Milosevic in 1989, and while the Kosovars kept up a brave passive resistance, how many Irish voices were raised on their behalf compared with (for example) safe issues like East Timor? Where was the "punching above our weight" and the "anti-imperialist stance" we hear so much about?
Now, while Kosovo struggles for its existence, the practical effects of Mr Gormley's rhetoric is to help the people who seek to have the Kosovars murdered or driven out. But then, Mr Gormley, and others, would prefer to ignore the spineless role of the EU and Ireland in Yugoslavia because they might then have to face up to the fact that EU membership involves taking some collective responsibility, together with our partners, for what happens in the rest of Europe. For example, take Fintan O'Toole's shock-horror revelation (Opinion, May 27th) that the US follows its own self-interest in foreign affairs. But, Mr O'Toole, has Ireland acted any differently?
To take Mr Gormley's main point: there is no reason why the PfP should undermine the UN. Indeed it is clear that the workings of the UN would be greatly assisted by regional peacekeepers. Supra-national unions of states are clearly a force for peace, therefore it makes sense to support the PfP. For one issue at stake in Kosovo is not the future of NATO, but the future of the EU.
Make no mistake. The EU has been ineffective in preventing a major war in its own backyard. If Ireland is to help address this, we need to move towards cohesion with our European partners, not in the opposite direction. By supporting NATO, the EU and Ireland can at least save face. A strongly supported PfP indicates Ireland's willingness to oppose tyranny in Europe. Kosovo destroyed and Serbia triumphant, victorious through EU divisiveness and half-hearted support for NATO, would undermine any hope of a "political union" of Europe, and possibly destroy it forever. As one British MP put it: "If Europe can't sort out Kosovo, what can it sort out?" -Yours, etc., Toby Joyce,
Carragh Hill, Salthill, Galway.