Dear Mr Rafferty. What garbage ! Anyone Irish who becomes successful outside Ireland is a traitor.
Where do you stop: Kennedys; Chuck Feeney ? Anyone you don't like ?
This sort of stupid thinking has led Ireland to the position where it now is !

The only trait that Mr. Rafferty shares with his illustrious namesake Anthony Rafferty, the Irish poet, is his blindness. But for the influence of Brendan Bracken on Winston Churchill, the present Mr. Rafferty would probably now be speaking German.

So back to Mr Bracken, working for a government leader who detested Irish independence and considered it a huge mistake, and was prepared to consider use of force against Ireland puts Mr Bracken in the traitor camp, notwithstanding the benign view given in the Irish media and academia to those who seem to hanker back to the days of British Rule, exulting in our participation in the obscenity of World War One for example, or who wallow in detesting ourselves and our country. He’s full-square a traitor, and any other country would view him as such in similar circumstances. The pro-British slant in terms of historical analysis in much of the Irish media and academia does not alter the reality of this. So to the rubbish above: Mr Faulkner, I am a highly-successful Irishman abroad, so your comment is total nonsense as I am no traitor. Your linkage of this absurd assertion then to the situation Ireland is in now would register nul-point in round one of a junior cert debating competition. That would appear to be your level of debate so I will engage no more. Mr Hope, Irish neutrality in the Second World War is a highly complex topic, and clearly you have a lot of reading to do. Not sure that’s your forte given this outburst, so here’s a little help: neutrality is considered by most independent (i.e. non-British toady) observers as the correct position for the country to have taken. The country had no defences, and siding with Britain would have led to an essentially defenceless country being bombed by the Luftwaffe as a sitting duck. There would have been massive slaughter. Britain prevented Ireland arming itself and used influence with the US to prevent Ireland receiving weaponry or hardware to protect itself in World War Two (extensive coverage of this in Mr Fisk’s book, his thesis for his PhD from TCD). This of course was because Britain had no interest in the welfare of Ireland, had no respect for the country's independence or neutrality, and would rather that Ireland be defenceless if attacked to give an excuse to invade if the Germans bombed, or a reason to force the Irish to have no other option but to plead for British military help - de facto invasion by invitation. Mr Hope, you seem to dwell on particularly negative aspects of Irish post-independence history – and none of the positive, so my ‘self-loather’ alarm is buzzing. Perhaps you should take a breather in England for the Christmas. What about Ireland’s positive influence internationally through the League of Nations and United Nations in times when we had an independent foreign policy?

He was a traitor - and while you're free with the insults you're not so free in explaining why you don't agree with my absolutely accurate description of this man as a traitor. Treason is defined as " Violation of allegiance toward one's country or sovereign, especially the betrayal of one's country by waging war against it or by consciously and purposely acting to aid its enemies." Mr Churchill was part of a cabinet which threatened war on Ireland on two separate occasions: one in 1921 if the Treaty was not accepted, and two in World War Two, when he reserved the right to invade if it was in British interests. I suggest you boys read the excellent "In Time Of War" by Robert Fisk, in which Mr Bracken is mentioned. Mr Bracken wasn’t around for the first threat of war by a cabinet including Churchill, but certainly he was happy to serve a man who made such threats later on – while he was advising him. One can assume he was in agreement therefore - and as an Irishman, that makes him a traitor. He may even have been involved in advising on British policy with regard to Ireland. Churchill was a fascinating man and his wartime diaries incredible reading (have you read those either I wonder?) The British fight in World War Two was anti-fascist, and we owe a huge thanks to those who fought it. But Irish neutrality is a highly complex topic, which must be seen in the light of the country’s only very recent independence after brutal war waged on it by Britain 20 years before the outbreak of WW2 in defiance of an overwhelming democratic mandate given to Sinn Fein by the Irish people in the 1918 elections. That followed events like the Famine too – the devastating impact on the Irish people I assume you know about, while under British rule. The country in 1939 was led by De Valera, a man sentenced to death by the British. The British themselves were prepared to do deals with the Nazis up to 1939, so knowledge and acceptance of the Nazi horrors at the outbreak of the war was mixed to say the least. Returning to Churchill however, while he gave inspirational leadership to WW2 Britain, he was no friend of independent Ireland - despite his associations with the country in childhood, and was an avowed unionist, opposed vehemently to Irish independence throughout his life. Whether you like it or not, independence is the foundation stone of the Irish state. (Despite the frequent self-loathing and seeming questioning of Irish independence in the Irish media and among some academics at times, I’ve yet to see any single expression of this at the ballot box since the foundation of the state, so we can take it that the Brit toadies are a tiny minority with no democratic backing – despite their platform in the Irish Times, a traditionally unionist paper, and the Independent owned by a man who took a knighthood from the Queen).

Roger Rafferty, Ireland's neutrality was not complex. One may be led to believe it was. Your definition of traitor in relation to Mr Bracken is suspect. Britain was not an enemy of Ireland. Britain was Ireland's main trading partner & continues to be, despite its entry to the EU, just 10% of its exports go to Europe. In addidition Britain supported the Irish pound on the market, & it was subsequently supported by the German Mark. Now Britain our supposed enemy is bailing the banks & builders out to the tune of 5billion sterling.Contrary to your opinion, your history lesson is not needed but thank you for the offer. I am very familiar with the history of Ireland, Britain's history in Ireland, The History of W.W.1 & W.W11. I am familiar also with the communication between Britain & Ireland, & Ireland & Germany during the wars.
There is a famine today of a different sort, people are still forced to leave, this happened in the 30's up to now. I am pleased Mr Rafferty that you are a successful Irish man abroad, however my view is that its such a pity that a man of your calibre left, what a difference you would make in the Ireland of today. I remain non judgemental in relation to Walsh, I am sure he is successful in his chosen field.

I am glad we are engaged in spirited debate - nothwithstanding Phil's contribution! Sorry - mine was posted in reverse due to some computer glitch - the third chunk should have been first. Mr Bracken is a fascinating character - as are often those who adopt different stances to the orthodox - as he certainly did given his background. It's good to see these stories aired - but I have not seen the programme. The question I posed is a legitimate one - but one I doubt was asked in the programme - as part of the drift of Irish media coverage which portrays Irish participation in British military and establishment affairs as quite normal now. This is however dovetails with the long-standing British establishment and imperialist view of old - Ireland is not really different, and really is part of the fold. It is a fair question of balance which I would think should have been in the programme to ask if he was a traitor, and what might have motivated his later allegiance to country with which we had far from harmonious relations with at the time, willing to wage war on us for their own interests, and in later years too. I am humbled by your remarks as to the contribution I might make in Ireland, but I'd feel I'd make absolutely no difference to a country which I left because I could not afford to live there after buying an ordinary semi-detached house there to live in which I cannot sell - bought in a market run by the curs who've ruined the country and whose advice I should never have heeded. The political arena is a dead-zone sewn up by non-entities who I am happy to be far away from, and whose occasional appearance at the Embassy guarantees my non-attendance at functions where'd I'd be at risk of being seen a subject of turnip-heads and huckster placemen and women who stand for nothing other than financial ruin (following their earlier creed of greed). I hope things change one day - and the Ireland I love is alive and well in my memories, and whose values will be instilled in my children, regardless of how rotten those who run it are. Their days I feel are numbered - but no sign of much better to replace them. Best wishes to you and a Happy Christmas and New Year Mr Hope.