Incidentally the Nazis weren't the only ones ones to consider invading Ireland. Both eth Britsih and teh americnas considered it (especially the Brits - a initiative that mostly emanated from Churchill). They decided against it in the end as Ireland was 'neutral on the side of the Allies' anyway and Germany didn't seem ready to invade it. That loveable rogue Churchill even had a squadron of Lnacaster bombers with phosgene gas payloads on standby just in case the Germans did invade Ireland.... the probable deaths of the Irish as well didn't trouble him at all, since it was for a greater (Britain's) good. He was a 'gas' man alright, old Churchill ("a gas man" in Eire means 'a funny or entertaining person') - he had advocated gassing the Kurds in the 1920s when they were being truculent.

As DeValera said 'Britain seems to think its necessity is a moral imperative'

Ok, that's another thread.