Sir, - The short answer to Tomás Ó Raghallaigh (May 14th) is: yes, Irish troops may one day be required to defend the European Empire, as he puts it. But that is fair enough as we are part of the empire and benefit from it, so we would in all likelihood be defending Irish interests.
But a thought occurs to me. Didn't we reject the Nice Treaty last year primarily because we did not want our soldiers taking part in a European army? Yet Irish troops are training for just this project.
Could it have been that the Nice Treaty had no bearing on the European Rapid Reaction Force after all? Did all those political parties and groups who campaigned against Nice on these grounds lie to us? - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL O'GRADY,
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Clonmel,
Co Tipperary.