Andrews insists Ireland will never join NATO as he signs PfP agreement

Ireland will never join NATO, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, pledged yesterday following the brief ceremony at NATO headquarters here which saw the State sign up to Partnership for Peace (PfP).

Responding to questions from journalists about Ireland's intentions in respect of NATO, Mr Andrews was categorical. "To be absolutely frank with you we're never going to join NATO," he said. "That is the answer to that question. No, No, No, and No to NATO. Now, and in the future, and for ever."

Mr Andrews was in Brussels to hand over Ireland's "Presentation Document", which sets out the range of and limits to Ireland's involvement in PfP, and then to sign the basic PfP "Framework Agreement". PfP is a common framework for individually tailored, bilateral collaboration between non-NATO states and NATO.

Speaking to the meeting of ambassadors of NATO's governing North Atlantic Council, Mr Andrews emphasised that signing up to PfP "was in full accordance with Ireland's policy of military neutrality", a theme taken up in his response by NATO's secretary general, Lord Robertson, although, significantly not mentioning the "n" word.

"Like some other countries which have joined the partnership, Ireland first debated whether such a step would possibly compromise certain long-standing national principles concerning security," Lord Robertson said, adding, perhaps controversially, that "your presence here today, Minister Andrews, indicates that such fears have been laid to rest.

"Let me use this opportunity to stress once again that Partnership for Peace does not imply a commitment to join or participate in a military alliance. It provides an opportunity for practical military and defence-related co-operation in a framework flexible enough to accommodate countries with widely different security traditions."

Mr Andrews told the ambassadors that Ireland's involvement in PfP was based on a shared understanding that the security challenges facing Europe "could only be achieved through co-operation and common action".

He underlined the State's continued commitments to all of its international obligations from the UN Charter to the Organisation of Security and Co-operation in Europe.

Mr Andrews said Ireland remained strongly committed to playing its role in peacekeeping and "welcomed the role that co-operation for peacekeeping has assumed in PfP and looks forward to contributing to partnership activities". He said Ireland also looked forward to playing a role in the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), the consultative forum for NATO and PfP members, and mentioned themes such as arms control, regional matters, civil defence and disaster relief.

Lord Robertson said he was "pleased and honoured" by Mr Andrews's presence. "As a member of the European Union, Ireland has long been an important factor in the building of a more integrated and peaceful Europe," he said, "and, by joining the Partnership for Peace and the EAPC, Ireland today marks another step in her contribution to a new, more stable, and more secure Europe.

"In today's interconnected world, security means more than safeguarding our national territories. We must also seek to shape our wider security environment.

"The destabilising effects of regional conflicts, for example, can be felt far from their point of origin. That is why security today means putting engagement over indifference. Ireland has long acted in accordance with this logic," Lord Roberston said.

In their earlier private bilateral discussion, he told Mr Andrews of his delight at the progress made in the North.