Sir, – I am tired of reading about Irish politicians being outraged about threats to the country’s neutral status. Irish politicians of all persuasions have historically and conveniently used the country’s neutral status to woefully underfund the provision of a credible Defence Forces.
This is markedly different to other non-aligned European countries. Switzerland, Finland, Sweden and Austria each spend 1 per cent to 1.3 per cent of GDP on defence whilst Irish Government spending on defence hovers at around 0.29 per cent of GDP.
If Paul Murphy TD (”Taoiseach rejects accusation Putin’s war being used to address Irish neutrality”, News, October 26th) and others are so concerned about safeguarding Ireland’s neutrality, they must back their rhetoric by committing to greater defence spending, rather than talking a good talk from the sidelines. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN FAHY,
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Sandwich,
Kent, UK.
