Sir, – Former taoiseach Bertie Ahern's erudite contribution correctly identifies dominion status and the Oath of Allegiance (and not partition) as the basis on which Eamon de Valera led the opposition to the 1921 Treaty ("Dev was wrong not to lead the 1921 Treaty talks", Heritage, May 24th).
On that definition, Michael Collins was right, the Treaty gave the Free State the freedom to obtain freedom.
I believe Bertie Ahern to be wrong on one point – de Valera’s presence in London would not have delivered anything better in 1921, and certainly not a 26-county republic. The late Prof Ronan Fanning, in Eamon de Valera: A Will to Power (2016), wrote that the only problem de Valera had with the Treaty was that his signature was not on it.
The Treaty left the issue of partition unresolved. The New Ireland Forum (1983-84) set out the costs of a united Ireland. With Irish, British EU, and possibly US help such costs should be surmountable.
The real question is how would one-fifth of the population of Ireland who are British be respected in a united Ireland? Are we in the republic ready to incorporate Britishness as a legitimate identity on the whole island?
If Canada-style dominion status for the whole of the island were on offer to achieve unity today would we accept it? Or are we happy to see Britishness confined within Northern Ireland once the nationalist community is receiving equal respect there?
These are among the questions we need to debate. – Yours, etc,
GAY MITCHELL,
( Former TD and MEP),
Dublin 6.
Sir, – Bertie Ahern, in his insightful piece, incorrectly attributes the genesis of the boundaries of partition to David Lloyd George’s government drawing lines on the map based on crude demographics.
The boundaries for the partitioning of Ireland were initially established during the horse trading that accompanied the third Home Rule Bill. In June 1914, the House of Lords had proposed an amendment to exclude the nine Ulster counties; however, Lord Carson, at the Buckingham Palace inter-party conference in July 1914, during a discussion on the Bill, conceded to six counties. Unfortunately, the Bill, as we know, was rushed through Parliament due to events in Sarajevo, and no final decision was included regarding a determination for Ulster. However, the six counties remained a key component during all future negotiations on the Irish question and to blame Lloyd George’s government for its selection in the Government of Ireland Act 1920 based on crude demographics alone is mistaken. – Yours, etc,
CHRIS OONAN,
Killester,
Dublin 5.