Sir, - Surely there can be no question now of Ireland joining Partnership for Peace, that quaintly named satellite of NATO. It would have to be a very stupid and insensitive government that would try to pull this wool over our eyes after all we have witnessed in recent weeks. NATO's crass and criminal blundering in Kosovo has turned a bad situation into a total disaster.
To date, however, all the signs suggest that we are being frog-marched into an alliance with NATO through the portals of PfP. The burning question is: why has our Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern, performed such a total volte-face in this matter? I think we are entitled to know what has precipitated this sudden 180 change of direction. Is there some trade-off with Messrs Clinton and Blair?
Another worrying aspect is that much of the pressure for our joining PfP is coming from military personnel. It must be a matter for concern to our elected representatives in Dail Eireann that Army officers should publicly be involving themselves in political affairs. It would probably be an overstatement to suggest that there is anything more sinister than self-interest involved in their enthusiasm to rush us into PfP and NATO. But longer and loftier corridors of power and the golden glint of alluring overseas allowances are poor reasons for Ireland to get itself drawn into the murky work of a military machine controlled by the US.
It is vital that the people of Ireland make their voices heard and demand a referendum, now that Fianna Fail has so blatantly gone back on its general election manifesto promise to oppose Irish entry into NATO or any of its agencies. We have very recently learned a salutary lesson from the surrender of our sovereignty in monetary matters. It is time for us to wake up and wise up. - Yours, etc., L. G. Kilgallen,
Crosthwaite Park South, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.