Irish neutrality questioned

IRELAND’S neutrality came under pressure at the NATO summit in Prague last night when it was questioned by the Czech president Vaclav Havel.

President Havel named Ireland specifically in his pre-summit speech saying while neutral countries from Finland to Switzerland to Ireland, cherished the historical traditions of neutrality, they should ask themselves what it means in the world of today.

“I believe all these countries sooner or later will ask themselves what the purpose or the content of neutrality is in the world of today. What neutrality actually means, what it makes possible and, what it makes impossible,” he said.