THE spokespersons for the Democracy Movement in the shape of Wilfred Smith and Jennifer Roberts are really having to scrape their anti-EU barrel bare. The neutrality of Eire (please -- Ireland is still not united) is now trotted out as a virtue. Well it may be, but it is also responsible for many hundreds, perhaps thousands, of brave people, including many Irish from North and South, lying needlessly dead at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. I refer of course to the refusal of Eire to allow its port to be used for the protection of convoys during World War 11. Since the 'we won the war' argument is also used by the anti Europeans I find this enthusiasm for the neutrality of Eire a strange one.

The Treaty of Nice, which Eire failed to ratify, is principally about enlargement of the EU. The turnout in their referendum was even more abysmal than the turnout for our General Election and is hardly a mandate for anything. But I agree that it is always fair and just to allow the status quo to prevail until it is clear that change is necessary and supported. I wish that our own government would follow that principle and attempt to change peoples views by reasoned debate rather than exercise its dictatorial powers which hugely exceed those of any other so called 'democracy'.

There is a final piece of tormented logic in the letters from Mr Smith and Mrs Roberts which is why is it OK for them (and me for that matter) to employ your letters page to attempt to change peoples minds to our points of view but apparently not OK for others to use legitimate methods of persuasion. Why do they assume that 'more referendums until we say yes' will in fact have that outcome? Is is because their case is devoid of fact, vision and logic?

At the detail level there is much to improve in the EU and I could fill several pages of this paper with specific comment. But on the principle I believe that in the next few decades we have to become wither the 51st State of America or we have to become part of a United States of Europe which will happen whether Britain is part of it or not. Personally I do not like this prospect but it is economic reality. We might be high up the world scale of economic power but it is not enough to permit us being outside a major grouping.

M J Turner, St Annes.