Sir, - Our Taoiseach says he is about to lead us into the NATO-sponsored Partnership for Peace organisation. But whose peace? Pax Romana was a disaster for the "barbarians". Pax Britannica was a disaster for the hill tribes. Pax Americana isn't proving very peaceful for the inhabitants of Iraq. Historically, peace through force of arms has a poor record.
Are we about to impose our idea of peace on others or are we simply going to join the other European nations who for so long have used large, conscripted armies to engage in successive wars often in the name of peace: the war to end all wars, the defence of small nations, etc, etc?
That Dail Eireann in my name would order other Irishmen to kill and be killed just to prove that we are good Europeans, as Mr Ahern seems to suggest, is abhorrent to me and I suspect to many other people in Ireland. - Yours, etc.,
Donnacha Kennedy, Carrick on Shannon, Co Leitrim.