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Previously, it had been well understood that, for reasons of geographical location, Ireland had been prepared 'to show a certain consideration for Britain' as Eamon de Valera explained to the German minister in Dublin. It was equally known that combatants were not treated with absolute equality. Allied airmen who crash landed in Ireland were quietly repatriated to the UK across the land border with Northern Ireland. Over-fly rights were granted and tens of thousands of Irish men fought in the British Army. German air crew who crash-landed in Ireland were, however, interned for the duration of the war.
What Dr Dwyer has uncovered goes far beyond any of this. Dwyer reveals that Irish diplomats were used as spies for the United States during the course of the war. Irish diplomats in Europe supplied information to the OSS--the predecessor of the CIA--with the full knowledge and consent of de Valera. Behind the Green Curtain is a comprehensive account of Irish neutrality, focusing strongly on the American, British--and to a lesser extent the Canadian-- connection. It confirms beyond any doubt that Ireland made a positive and partisan contribution to the allied war effort. Neutrality has become a shibboleth of modern Irish politics. Behind the Green Curtain explodes the myth behind that shibboleth in the most decisive way.
Hardcover, light edgewear to the jacket, Gill Books 2009.
