The first paper setting out practical guidelines for Irish participation in the NATO-linked Partnership for Peace (PfP) has been issued by the Government. The document, which lays heavy emphasis on peacekeeping operations, was prepared with assistance from the NATO international secretariat and will be revised at the end of the year.
The Individual Partnership Programme stresses that, in accordance with the principle of "self-differentiation", all decisions regarding the form and content of the IPP had been made by the Government.
Ireland joined the PfP on December 1st, 1999. In a "presentation document" prepared at the time, the Government set out priority areas for co-operation with other members such as: peacekeeping, humanitarian operations, search-and-rescue, protection of the environment and marine co-operation.
The latest paper outlines the Government's intention to participate in the planning and review process of the PfP with a view to enhancing "interoper ability" with other members in "tactics, operational cohesion, logistics and language training". The aim was to create the conditions where contingents from different countries could co-operate effectively.
The Government has established a delegation consisting of both civilian and military personnel at NATO headquarters in Brussels. "In addition, officials across a number of Government Departments have been specifically involved in developing a response to the PfP agenda", the document states.
It points out that a "flexible and effective working relationship" has developed between the Defence Forces and foreign military academies in the sphere of education and training.
"A formal exchange programme exists with the United States in relation to senior officer education at command and staff course level, and senior officers have undertaken senior staff courses in France, Germany and the UK," it says.
"On a case by case basis, Irish Defence Forces personnel will continue to attend selected courses in military establishments abroad." Military personnel from other countries also avail of training in Ireland.
The paper is described as an "initial presentation" of Ireland's broad approach and planned activities, which had been drawn up "in a flexible form to allow for adjustment in the light of ongoing experience".
The document has been rejected by Mr Roger Cole, of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance, who said: "Ireland's commitment to collective security through the United Nations is undermined by our Government's decision to link itself strongly with NATO, which went to war against Yugoslavia without a UN mandate".
Mr Cole predicted that the forthcoming referendum on the Treaty of Nice would "provide the Irish people with an opportunity to reject the Government's efforts to destroy Irish neutrality salami-style".
The peace and human rights group AfrI (Action from Ireland) said that the degree to which Ireland was "inextricably linked" to NATO was clear from the fact that the alliance was the "partner agency" in the IPP agreement.
The group expressed "outrage" at the fact that a formal exchange programme for military training existed with the US and that Irish officers had undertaken training in the UK and elsewhere. "Given the appalling activities carried out by US military forces around the world, and events such as Bloody Sunday in Derry, it is unlikely that Irish military personnel will learn about respect for human rights from such an exchange programme or such training courses", AfrI said in a statement.