Sir, - It was with great anger I read your recent article concerning the training of Russian soldiers by Irish army personnel. I am unsure as to the implications concerning our neutrality but there must be some room for a moral assessment. The Russian Federation is at present engaged in a bloody war of occupation in the beakaway Chechen Republic.
Does this not dishonour those of our soldiers who have given their lives in the defence of peace and liberty in countries all over the world? Is this why they died - so that our politicians can thumb their noses at the EU but cravenly look the other way when given the chance to make a moral stand?
Is the situation, as I fear, to be purely economic? Are brutal regimes such as those in China and Russia, to be absolved of any guilt because they represent potentially lucrative trade opportunities for this country?
Today I do not feel inspired to wrap myself in the green jersey. - Yours, etc.,
Paul Bowler, Warren Avenue, Castleknock, Dublin 15.