Darker side of Irish neutrality

The conversation on the neutrality issue within the columns of the Irish Examiner is enlightening and long overdue.

However, Irish neutrality had its darker side, and the cost to some families still endures in their memory.

While the policy of neutrality was arguably correct there are aspects of this policy which can only be described as ‘morally bankrupt’ and Minister for Defence Alan Shatter is right in one sense coming from where he is.

There were Irish victims of the Nazis and German television is expected to broadcast a programme in September on the war crimes of the German navy and will include Irish input.

When a resolution to the pardons issue is promulgated by the Minister for Defence in the near future, then surviving veterans and our families can, like old soldiers, fade away and become just a footnote in Billy Fitzpatrick’s version (Letters, Feb 14) of history.

Peter Mulvany

Coordinator Irish Soldiers Pardons Campaign (WW2)

Clontarf

Dublin 3