A chara, – I read with interest that the President has assured the Turkish government of the support of the Irish Government for the proposed accession of Turkey to the European Union (World News, March 24th).
This statement strikes me as curious – can we firstly assume the President was empowered to make such a policy statement on a major open issue that continues to have serious ramifications for the entire EU and (more pertinently) that this statement actually does represent official Irish Government policy? A number of other, larger EU member states are significantly more cautious on this issue, with some indicating national referendums may be held on the critical question of the EU assimilating a further 70 million people based in a country which boasts only 5 per cent of its land mass in Europe. The President’s statement seems to suggest that Ireland has already made up its mind? – Is mise,