Madam, – No doubt the President, Mary McAleese, was enunciating Government policy when she announced that Ireland was in favour of Turkey being admitted to the European community.
This surprises me. My own view is that Turkey should not be admitted until there is religious freedom in that country and in particular until the orthodox seminary which was forcibly closed is allowed to re-open.
The official programme of the visit referred to the President meeting the Greek Patriarch. This is how the Turkish authorities would like to refer to him. In fact he is the ecumenical Patriarch, the first in honour throughout the whole Orthodox world. – Yours, etc,