As a young immigrant in the 1990s, I was shocked that the EU allowed a terrible war to happen on its doorstep in Yugoslavia.

France and Germany should have intervened conjointly to separate the belligerents in Croatia; they could have imposed an orderly secession, with future accession to the EU as incentive, and prevented most of the 140 000 deaths.

There are plenty of excuses why it didn't happen, but does anyone want to argue that it wouldn't have been a better outcome?

And ever since, I have been convinced that the EU needs an army. I'm as anti-militaristic as hell, but if you want to live in the real world, then you need to acknowledge that every sovereign entity needs to have the means to defend its existence.

I imagine there would be debates in Ireland about taking part in such an army, but I can't see any way around it.

_{It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II}