Let’s not pretend that Ireland hasn’t been US aligned since forever. Sure we’re neighbours and the US has a huge Irish diaspora. Hell we even used taxpayer money to refuel USAF jets on their way to the gulf wars despite being “neutral”.
I never met a single person here during the cold war that thought the USSR was anything other than an authoritarian hole that might wipe us off the map because we are next to the UK.
I always felt that Ireland remained “unaligned” all that time not because they really had no preference between the US or USSR, but because they could, under no circumstances, be seen as being aligned with the British.
Let’s not pretend that Ireland hasn’t been US aligned since forever. Sure we’re neighbours and the US has a huge Irish diaspora. Hell we even used taxpayer money to refuel USAF jets on their way to the gulf wars despite being “neutral”.
I never met a single person here during the cold war that thought the USSR was anything other than an authoritarian hole that might wipe us off the map because we are next to the UK.
I always felt that Ireland remained “unaligned” all that time not because they really had no preference between the US or USSR, but because they could, under no circumstances, be seen as being aligned with the British.