Ben Lowry: The American conservative establishment has been exposed to yet more criticism of Ireland on the pages of the Wall Street Journal

(To read Ben Lowry’s main column on how he challenged the Kenova chiefs for pushing their political views on legacy click here)​

The WSJ is arguably perhaps the most influential newspaper in US financial and conservative circles.

The opinion article (‘Ireland is a wounded tiger,’ December 8) was written by the Harvard graduate and historian Dominic Green, comes weeks after a piece by Robert C O’Brien, ex national security advisor to President Trump (‘When Irish eyes are glaring,’ November 6) which also criticised the Republic. Mr Green mentioned the plan to rename Herzog Park in Dublin, immigration challenges and growing nationalism with regard to Northern Ireland,

Mr O’Brien had, prior to his WSJ article, introduced a paper for the Westminster-based think tank Policy Exchange, about the challenges that a Trump presidency posed to Ireland’s US relationship. He said that despite its neutrality, “Ireland pursues an increasingly activist foreign policy that is marked by its divergence from everything the Trump administration stands for, particularly in the Middle East”.

This is amid increasing hostility on the political right in the UK to Ireland ‘freeloading’ off British defence. These critics could be harsher still – Dublin, having been allowed to duck its responsibilities with regard t examining its role in the Troubles, is actually suing the UK over legacy in Strasbourg.

• Ben Lowry (@Benlowry2) is News Letter deputy editor