Ireland entering the second world war could have prevented the Troubles

Professor Gerald Morgan (‘Eamon De Valera was a great man,’ letters, November 17, see link below) believes that Eamon De Valera’s refusal to enter the Republic of Ireland into the Second World War prevented an early outbreak of the Troubles.

But maybe entering World War II could have prevented the Troubles altogether.

Ireland would have looked beyond the past to come to the succour of a neighbour against a terrible foe.

An act of friendship that would have displayed the magnanimity of a true statesman.

Instead the Republic turned inward to assert its independence, blindly doing so without regard to the world in which that independence would have allowed the Republic to act.

Eamon De Valera’s expression of condolences to the German Ambassador upon the death of Hitler is one of the most absurd acts in Irish history.

Dominic Gallagher, Glenavy

Eamon De Valera was a great man

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