The State and the Commonwealth

Sir, – Many are annoyed at idea of a royal presence in Dublin 2016 in context of a "shared history". Diarmaid Ferriter writes that "the suggestion that Ireland should rejoin the Commonwealth . . . is indicative of a worrying postcolonial inferiority complex" ("Ordinary lives best define our revolutionary decade", Opinion & Analysis, May 9th).

The Commonwealth is a free, voluntary association of independent states. As an Irish citizen, I prefer to see the prospect of Irish Commonwealth membership as a self-confident choice by a mature independent people and nation. – Yours, etc,

JEREMIAH P WALSH,

Kew Green,

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Richmond,

Surrey,

England.