There were heated exchanges in the Dáil over Ireland’s neutrality when the Tánaiste was accused of abandoning the programme for Government commitment to “fully maintain neutrality and the triple lock”.
The row erupted when Micheál Martin in turn claimed that since Ireland applied to join the EU in 1972 the left in Irish politics constantly claimed there would be “conscription, membership of Nato, Nato tanks on O’Connell Street”.
He cited three occasions in the past decade where Irish troops could not be deployed on peacekeeping missions because of a UN Security Council veto, and insisted that whatever deployments were agreed they would be in keeping with the UN Charter.
People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith raised the issue of neutrality when she called on the Tánaiste to explain “what exactly is it that you want to do that you can’t already do with our Defence Forces inside the triple lock?”
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Under the current triple lock arrangement approval from the UN Security Council or General assembly must be given along with the assent of the Dáil and Government. The Government proposes to amend the legislation to end the requirement for UN approval.
Ms Smith highlighted the programme for Government commitment in 2020 to maintain the triple lock and asked the Tánaiste “do you want to operate outside the UN Charter? Because it would appear that that’s exactly what you want to do.”
Ms Smith asked if the Government was “falling in line with others across Europe, who are already giving us worrying signs that war clouds are gathering”.
She referred to remarks by the Polish prime minister Donald Tusk “that we’re in a pre-war era” and from the chair of Nato’s military committee that it is preparing for war with Russia and calls from French president Emmanuel Macron that Nato should be sending troops to Ukraine.
Ms Smith asked “do you want the sons and daughters of Irish mostly working class people to be sent out to fight wars on behalf of the new colonial powers that are dominating the world now”.
Mr Martin said he was 12 when Ireland voted overwhelmingly to join the EU and in that debate and every other debate and referendum on Europe “people from your side of the House protected conscription, membership of Nato, Nato tanks on O’Connell Street. That has been a consistent line adopted.”
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy interrupted and shouted “that’s a lie”.
The Tánaiste said that talk of conscription and joining a European army has been mentioned in every referendum.
He said that in 1999 a member of the UN Security Council vetoed the renewal of a deployment in former Yugoslavia and Ireland could not participate in a subsequent EU peace operation.
He said that in 2015 the EU set up a security mission in the Mediterranean, Operation Sofia, but it did not have a UN mandate until 2016.
In another case the Naval Service was unable to participate in drug interdiction operations with the Maritime Analysis Operations Centre which requested Irish assistance as the was no UN mandate for the operation.
The Government is trying to remove the “UN Security Security Council sanction, but we have made it crystal clear that anything we do will be within the UN Charter”.
When Ms Smith again asked if it would be “the sons and daughters of Irish working class people who will be sent abroad to lose their lives”, Mr Martin said that was a “monstrous lie” to suggest that removing the triple lock would be a factor in young Irish people fighting in wars.
He also accused Ms Smith of being “so dismissive of the reality” as he insisted that there would in the future be more evacuations of Irish citizens from war zones.
Mr Martin said “we have to get Irish citizens out of Sudan. We have to them out of Afghanistan. That’s going to increase. Unfortunately there will be more war situations” with the need to evacuate Irish citizens safely.
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