Letter to the Editor,
Rishi Sunak’s proposition to bring back national service for 18-year-olds if the Tories gain power in the upcoming UK general election, presents significant implications for Ireland. As a consequence, a substantial number of British youth might seek refuge here to escape it.
The current arrangements for unrestricted movement, residence, and employment for us, Britons in Ireland, facilitated by the common travel area, provides opportunities now unavailable in post-Brexit Europe.
What’s noteworthy is the historical instance of Germany. Before the Berlin Wall fell, many West Germans sidestepped compulsory military service (“the draft”) by taking up residence in West Berlin, where such regulations weren’t enforced. It soon led to West Berlin evolving into Germany’s artistic and innovative pulse.
This brings us to the intriguing prospect of Dublin potentially transforming into a hub for alternative, ‘bohemian’ lifestyles, were a large number of young British people with varying lifestyle choices to settle here, all to evade this peculiar policy.
Yours sincerely,
KENNETH HARPER,
Burtonport,
Co Donegal.