Sir, – Vincent Browne asks a fair question when he ponders whether the mass of Irish people would have been better off without the "Irish freedom" which had the effect of excluding them from the welfare state and the NHS ("A system to fight squalor", Books, September 18th).
Independence was both the cause and the justification of many consequent ills.
More recently, Ireland was forced to surrender its much vaunted sovereignty to the EU and IMF in 2011.
Freedom from the EU-IMF post-programme surveillance is due in 2031 – assuming no further financial disaster occurs before then.
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So, in 2032 Ireland will be independent once again: 110 years after the first attempt. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN DOHERTY,
Gaoth Dobhair
Co Dhún na nGall.