Friendship visits by British warships are still premature in the political circumstances

ON September 1, Cork Sinn Féin held a protest at the Cork harbour objecting to yet another visit by a British warship, this time the HMS Westminster.

These visits are now becoming so numerous, one wonders if the British navy now thinks of Cork as one of their home ports once again.

Clearly, such visits challenge the oft-cited concept of Irish neutrality, not to mention the notion of Irish sovereignty.