Sir, - If we are to have a forum on the European Union, why not begin with a constructive debate in Dail Eireann?
Remember what Walter Bagehot, the distinguished political journalist, said about the teaching function of parliament: "A great and open council of men [sic] cannot be placed in the middle of a society without altering that society. It ought to teach the nation what it does not know."
The men and women in Dail Eireann should rise to that challenge now by taking a leadership role in the EU debate. Otherwise the forum will become a prolonged diversionary tactic while the Union continues to devour the functions of its member-states. - Yours, etc.,
T. O'Connor, Churchtown, Dublin 14.