Is Irelands neutrality stance in WW2 unfairly criticized? (see Mod note 217)

They can build airfields.

"…Led by Director General Sir Hugh Beaver, the Ministry workforce, mainly Irish, built 444 airfields in 1942-44. At their peak in 1943 they were building one every three days. When the war began in 1939, the RAF was using grass strips…"

There were southern convoys that passed south of Ireland and it was a transit route for U-Boats. The SW Coast of Britain and Wales were littered with Costal Command airfields and flying boat docks.

Dresden was bombed 7 times. In 1944, Oct, then in 1945 Jan, Feb (4 raids (the "fire bombing"), then March and April. Hamburg was firebombed in 1943. Berlin was bombed over 300 times, (100 times in 1945).

You'd have to be very gullible to believe the allied recoiled in horror due to Dresden raids in Feb. They firebombed Tokyo in March. They bombed Japan relentlessly in 1945.

Churchill’s omitting things on VE day about the bombing campaign was political stroke. He didn't stop the bombing and He sent the Back and Tans into Ireland. But how many Civilians died across the world due to a war that German and Japan started.

It's not that we shouldn't mention Dev it's just that it's a stock whataboutery answer for some posters. When faced with facts and uncomfortable truths it's their default answer.

Many Canadian, Americans and British lost relatives in the battle of the Atlantic, and it nearly cost the free world the war, because if the the battle of the Atlantic was lost, the war would have been lost. The world can also be thankful that during the war the Allies had some technological breakthroughs eg Sonar (originally termed ASDIC by the British).

A number factors were used to close the mid-Atlantic gap and make the U boats less of the hunters and a bit more hunted .. breaking of German codes, advanced detection d lives if the British dgive not give sensors, and long-range air support, better techniques when submarines spotted etc

Would definitely have been useful to the Allies and saved Allied lives if Chamberlin did not give Ireland the treaty ports in 1938. Churchill was against that but he was not in power then. The British gave them out of goodwill, thinking they may be able to use them again in times of war, but that did not turn out to be the case.

The FS/RoI was a target for venom from Britain and other Commonwealth countries, particularly Canada, post WW2 but while certain examples of this still occur it now mainly comes from British people nostalgic for the past.

Yes,
David McCullagh's two volume biography sets the record straight and shows Dev as a leader who did some good and some bad.
Dev's legacy is much more complex and nuanced than these people are willing to admit. They are literally still sulking.

They were under the illusion they owned all of Ireland - they never did Francis.
What you should have said was 'They gave them back'

I'd imagine his appeasement of Hitler and the German's will be remembered more.

Millions died in the Great War. It makes sense that Europe's statesmen wouldn't want another. It's not like Chamberlain was acting to protect personal financial interests in Germany.

De Valera did very well to get the ports back. It meant we could be neutral and it was the key moment in Ireland coming of age.

It seems all his arguments against Irish neutrality can be traced back to British mistakes.

The Americans had no experience of war on their entry. Like Ireland throughout the war, they kept shore lights on so u-boats could see merchant shipping silhouetted against the lights. Then pounce when they were a bit more offshore. U-333 captain Peter Erich Cremer famously recounted cruising so close to the Florida coastline that he could read neon advertising signs while merchant ships passed by perfectly silhouetted. In the first 6 months of 1942 nearly 400 Allied ships were sunk off the coat of the Americas.

In early 1943 the British rolled Naval Cypher No. 5 and highly secure Typex machines, which severely restricted German code-breaking capabilities.

What form did you want Irish participation to take? Make a list and we'll go through it.

Well you forgot about it last night when you claimed the British would never hang Irish prisoners.

Hands up, I forgot the Northern authorities did execute one IRA person out of 5 or 6 caught for murdering a Catholic RUC man, a father of 9 if I remember correctly, early during WW2. Dev murdered more in Irish jail. Considering the IRA carried out approx 300 bombings and acts of sabotage in mainland Britain between January 1939 and March 1940, maybe corporal punishment on both sides of the border worked? It had to work in order for Irish neutrality to work?