Sir, – In his World View article (Opinion & Analysis, November 5th), under the heading "Ireland right to lead way against bomb", Patrick Smyth tells us "Ireland and five other states (Austria, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa) successfully proposed a motion, 123 to 38 with 16 abstentions, to convene a conference to ban the bomb. To ban the production, storage and use of all nuclear weapons".
All very commendable indeed, and no doubt our political leaders are happy to receive your columnist’s approval of their initiative.
To describe this as an important assertion of “active neutrality” is extraordinary in the light of the long-time active involvement of successive Irish governments in destroying Ireland’s neutral status.
I refer of course to the record of those governments who over the past 15 years have approved the transit of 2½ million armed US combat troops through Shannon Airport en route to the killing fields of the Middle East. So, is it all right for Ireland to be complicit in the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of human beings in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere given that nuclear weapons were not used?
May I suggest to our political leaders that they put an end to their disgusting hypocrisy and reconnect with their moral compasses. – Yours, etc,
GEAROID KILGALLEN,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – It is unlikely that the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – all nuclear armed – will be shaking in their military boots to hear that Ireland has joined Austria in calling for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
As an exercise in virtue-signalling, the appeal might have some merit if the two righteous nations were not joined by Brazil, Mexico and Nigeria, respectively 76, 95 and 136 in the index of the world’s most corrupt countries. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN DOHERTY,
Vienna,
Austria.