Sir, - Michael Dolan (May 29th) writes that "we do not have any moral obligation to the citizens of Eastern Europe and our European partners always act in their own national interests." Why, then, did Ireland receive most generous support from those selfish partners for 30 years? It did so as part of a visionary project, aimed at removing the divisions and inequalities that had led Europe to the abyss twice in the last century. And it is exactly that vision of a peaceful and prosperous Europe that instils most West European countries with a sense of responsibility towards the former subjects of the Warsaw Pact.
Much of the current discussion seems to indicate that after 30 years of integration, co-operation, and subsidies, some Irish people still feel no part of the shared responsibility of partaking in the European project, and no desire to extend the generosity they received themselves to others. Of course, by rejecting the increased obligations, moral and material, offered by the EU, these "little Irelanders" also deny Ireland the increased responsibility, influence and moral authority that Ireland could enjoy as the most successful of the "small" countries that will soon constitute three-quarters of the member-states. What a shame. - Yours, etc.,
Heinrich Hall, (Department of Classics and Archaeology, UCD), Frankfurt am Main, Germany.