But Ireland is far more vital to England than Sicily was to Carthage, and is of far more account to the future of Europe on the ocean than the possession of Sicily was to the future of the Mediterranean.
If Germany is to permanently profit from a victory over England, she must free the narrow seas, not only by the defeat of British fleets in being, but by ensuring that those seas shall not again be closed by British fleets yet to be.

The German gateway to a free Atlantic can only be kept open through a free Ireland.

For just as the English Channel under the existing arrangement, whereby Ireland lies hidden from the rest of Europe, can be closed at will by England, so with Ireland no longer tied to the girdle of England, that channel cannot be locked.

The key to the freedom of European navigation lies at Berehaven and not at Dover.

With Berehaven won from English hands, England might close the Channel in truth, but Ireland could shut the Atlantic.