International security forum more open-minded than critics claim

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“We’re gonna give you a fair trial, followed by a first-class hanging,” was the most memorable line said by Sheriff Cobb, played by the great Brian Dennehy, in the 1985 western Silverado. That quote could serve as the template for critics of the Government’s four-day Consultative Forum on International Security Policy. The forum was pre-condemned before it began. The biggest lambasting was from President Michael D Higgins, who pointedly referred to forum chair Louise Richardson’s status as a dame of the British empire and spoke of “playing with fire” and of a “drift” away from neutrality. He also said the...