A chara, - I will ignore the characteristic vituperation in the letter from the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, John O'Donoghue (June 4th), and deal with the issues. The Minister denied that the Fianna Fáil/PD Government has undermined Irish neutrality. But, as Sinn Féin sets out in its recent document "Positive Neutrality in Action", there has been a concerted process of undermining neutrality by this Government.
This has included: (a) joining NATO's Partnership for Peace despite pre-election commitments not to do so without a referendum; (b) committing troops to the NATO-aligned EU Rapid Reaction Force in 1999; (c) refusing to seek a legally binding neutrality protocol to the Nice Treaty; (d) supporting the illegal Anglo-American invasion of Iraq by allowing 3,500 military aircraft to overfly Irish airspace and well over 125,000 US troops to use Shannon Airport as a staging post in their war; (e) supporting the "common defence" clauses of the draft EU constitutional treaty.
Contrary to Mr O'Donoghue's assertion it is the foreign policy of the Bush administration that Sinn Féin has criticised, not the people of the United States. The implication in the Minister's letter is that all the people of the US support the war in Iraq and that to oppose it is to be anti-American. That is emphatically not the case.
Sinn Féin has won support from Irish people and friends of Ireland in the US on the basis of our work for Irish unity and independence and for lasting peace on this island. That is entirely consistent with our call not only for the maintenance of Irish neutrality but for the development of positive neutrality as a key component of independent Irish foreign policy. - Is mise,
MARY LOU McDONALD,
Sinn Féin
EU candidate for Dublin,
Parnell Square,
Dublin 1.