I was out of step with the great military parade for two reasons

I DIDN’T go to the military parade in Dublin on Sunday. There were two reasons. First, with the best will in the world I don’t believe military parades represent anything about Ireland today.

I worked for the Department of Foreign Affairs for four years, and I know that Ireland has a proud international reputation in the peacekeeping area. It was not the number of soldiers we could put into the field that earned us that reputation, but the background from which they came.

That background is encapsulated in Article 29 of our constitution: "Ireland affirms its devotion to the ideal of peace and friendly co-operation amongst nations founded on international justice and morality (and) Ireland affirms its adherence to the principle of the pacific settlement of international disputes by international arbitration or judicial determination."