Enemy was inside government, not outside

‘What is history but a fable agreed upon’ is a well-known dictum attributed to Napoleon but one which Minister Shatter, Prof Roberts of UCC and others seem determined to uphold, in their critique of Ireland’s failure to join the ‘fight for freedom’ alongside the ‘anti-fascist Allied coalition’ in 1939.

The term ‘anti-fascist’ hardly inspires confidence considering the role that the conservative governments of Britain and France played in the years leading up to WW2.

When the forces of the dictator Franco, fascist Italy and Nazi Germany attacked the poorly-armed, democratic government of Spain, Britain and France imposed an arms and materials embargo, sealing its fate.