We must accept the fact that neutrality, as we have known it, is no longer a necessary mark of Irish independence. Since the early decades of the 20th century, much of the philosophy behind Irish neutrality was based on a desire to mark our independence from Britain. This was both understandable and justifiable in the 1930s and 1940s, perhaps even in the 1950s, but it is absolutely unnecessary in Europe today where Ireland has truly come of age.