Madam, – I refer to the letters of Ian Scott and in particular Daragh McDowell (June 30th), which appear to suggest Ireland owes some debt of gratitude to Britain, and in particular the RAF, for having thwarted the Nazi intentions to invade Ireland in 1940.
That the British were not just instrumental but were solely responsible for derailing Hitler’s plans in this regard is not in dispute, but the fact that this nation benefited from the RAF skill and bravery that produced that outcome is purely incidental. British interests in preventing a Nazi invasion of Ireland was an act of pure self-interest predicated on an obvious military strategy, as opposed to a gracious intervention on Ireland’s behalf. For Ireland to today express gratitude for what was in essence a positive externality or side effect of Britain, in fact, looking after number one, would be about as appropriate and misguided as the FAI thanking Mexico for knocking France out of the World Cup.
While I wholly endorse Mr McDowell’s welcoming of Queen Elizabeth II to Ireland as a head of state in these progressive times between our nations, I strongly object to his revisionist suggestion that such a visit should be considered in context of it being an opportunity for Ireland to in some way thank Britain for any historical interventions, intended or otherwise. – Yours, etc,