Sir, – In his submission to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions, Patrick Smyth, foreign policy editor of The Irish Times, stated "it seems to me inconceivable that Ireland would not voluntarily join in the defence of any member under attack" ("Neutrality would not prevent Ireland coming to aid of EU state under attack, committee told", July 16th). Well, he would say that, wouldn't he? The Irish Times took the same view when we were members of the British union and encouraged thousands upon thousands of Irishmen to fight and die in its imperial war. Some things just don't change, The Irish Times being one of them.
Yet there is no doubt that when Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Labour voted against the recent neutrality Bill in Dáil Éireann, they were giving a clear signal that they might be agreeing with Smyth.
The problem for Smyth and the leaders of these parties is that in September 2013, the Peace & Neutrality Alliance commissioned a RED C poll where only 15 per cent did not support Irish neutrality and 78 per cent supported a policy of Irish neutrality.
It would not be the first time in Irish history that the values of the vast majority of the Irish people were not reflected in the Irish media. – Yours, etc,
ROGER COLE,
Chairman,
Peace & Neutrality Alliance,
Dalkey,
Co Dublin.