DE VALERA'S LOST CHANCE
Sm,—In his reply in your issue for May 19th to one of my simple questions, Sir Christopher Robinson admits that conscription for the British Forces was not • attempted in Northern Ireland because a minority, of which he does not state the size, objected. He then goes on to underline the difficulty of closing the border between Northern Ire- land and the rest of Ireland. As one who, in Sir Christopher's words, " would do well to cultivate a more complete grasp of the obvious be- fore obtruding into Irish politics," he seems to me to prove pretty con-
elusively that " Ulster " is not only a part of the island known as Ire- land (or in Gaelic Eire), but that it is also, when it comes to the test of reality, a part, if a very specialised part, of the Irish nation. Sir Chris- topher, with his more complete grasp of the obvious, will correct me if I am wrong.
Still resolutely grasping the obvious, Sir Christopher, with a little prompting from my simple self, then goes on categorically to state that a permanent political schism in an island on Britain's ocean flank does not contribute to the security of Britain. Perhaps with a little more prompting he will even tell us where the schism is—in the Twenty-six Counties or in " Ulster "? Finally, one more simple question. If a dissident minority in England, while remaining in England, persisted in declaring its loyalty to Ireland, thereby weakening the political structure of England and endangering the strategic security of both islands, would Sir Christopher consider it was acting from motives of a high political
20 Wellington Place, Belfast.
(President, Ulster Union Club).
Previous page
