Sir, – The appointment of Boris Johnson as the new British foreign secretary who will be involved in the Brexit negotiations will be seen in Europe as a slap in the face. EU negotiations in which Mr Johnson is given a role will be met with a firm resolve from Germany and France and are unlikely to go Britain’s way. What a calamitous error on the part of the new British prime minister. Was there really no one else she could appoint? – Yours, etc,
PAVEL MARIANSKI,
Dungarvan,
Co Waterford.
Sir, – A cabinet of curiosities. – Yours, etc,
ANNE BYRNE,
Bray, Co Wicklow.
Sir, – James Brokenshire is the new Secretary of Stae for Notrthern ireland? He should heve been made “Minister for Brexit” with a name like that. – Yours, etc,
C MURRAY,
Dublin 2.
Sir, – Theresa May’s surprise appointment of Boris Johnson as foreign secretary has been greeted with a mixture of bemusement, shock and dismay. One could surmise that a canny new PM has wisely handed the doyen of Brexiteers a poisoned chalice that will ultimately destroy him. However, I believe that Mrs May is wiser than that.
The distinctly undiplomatic protestations from European capitals at Mr Johnson’s appointment tells us that the European establishment does not relish the prospect of dealing with him. He is a Europhile in its truest sense. A fluent French speaker and scholar of Latin and Greek, he has been unfairly portrayed as anti-European. He is a democrat who rejects the anti-democratic excesses of the federal European project.
In its reckless pursuit of a single currency without a common fiscal policy, the European Union has subjected peripheral economies to catastrophic austerity and mass youth unemployment while humiliating nations who questioned austerity or the harsh terms of bailouts. Those who oppose “ever closer union” are accused of narrow nationalistic agendas, yet national governments are ultimately answerable to their citizens in a unique relationship which cannot be replicated by a faceless and unanswerable bureaucracy in Brussels.
There is no doubt that Mr Johnson will ruffle feathers in Europe, and perhaps that is what Europe needs. When the dust settles, the EU may emerge as a more accountable and democratic institution. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN GIBBONS,
Castlebar,
Co Mayo.
Sir, – There is a well-known Irish reel called The Sweets of May. I fear that Boris Johnson is being asked to dance on a bed of nails of his own making. – Yours, etc,
BRYAN BYRNE,
Monkstown,Co Dublin.
A chara, – Tom McElligott lauds Theresa May’s speech that launched her campaign to become the prime minister, and applauds the vision of an inclusive society that Mrs May sets out for her premiership. Indeed, Mr McElligott also states that it “has taken a woman, and a strong one at that, to put the boys back in their box”.
It reminds me of the tragic irony, given the polarising legacy which helped lead to the current precipice, of Margaret Thatcher’s invocation of St Francis of Assisi, given on her becoming prime minister: “Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope”. – Is mise,
ERIC CREAN,
Dún Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – Theresa May has been described as a safe pair of hands. By appointing Boris Johnson, it would seem that one of those hands has been outstretched and two fingers given to Europe and beyond. – Yours, etc,
BRIAN QUIGLEY,
Bettystown,
Co Meath.
Sir, – I think that Denis Staunton's analysis of Boris Johnson is correct only to a certain point ("Beneath the bombast, Johnson is a thoughtful soul,", Analysis, July 15th). In my mind, the recurring image is one of Boris as a set of Russian dolls: first the clownish bombastic doll, inside that the thoughtful Boris doll, but then inside that another clown doll. – Yours, etc,
KEN MAWHINNEY,
Dublin 16.