Neutrality would not prevent Ireland coming to aid of EU state under attack

It is inconceivable that Ireland would not voluntarily join in the defence of an EU member state under attack, foreign policy expert Paddy Smyth has told an Oireachtas committee.

Mr Smyth, the Foreign Policy Editor of The Irish Times, addressed the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions as part of its ongoing consideration of US military use of Shannon Airport.

He said the principle of not signing up to “common defence” was constitutionally enshrined, following both Nice and Lisbon treaties in Article 29, section 4, subsection 9.

“It has to be said, however, that given Ireland’s political commitment to the EU and its integrity, it seems to me inconceivable that Ireland would not voluntarily join in the defence of any member under attack, just as it has seen the extension of loans to a bankrupt Greece as an essential imperative arising from the solidarity on which the Union is based. And from which this country too has benefited,” said Mr Smyth.

He said Irish neutrality did not mean in principle eschewing the use of force, or assistance in its use, at the behest of the UN or in UN-sanctioned operations. The UN Charter required member states to make available to the Security Council “armed forces, assistance, and facilities, including the right of passage necessary for the purpose of maintaining international peace and security.”

Mr Smyth said the insistence by Dr Edward Horgan that it was in breach of international law to allow a planeload of troops on the way to a military operation, or on its way to war, to pass through Shannon Airport would appear to make Ireland’s membership of the UN incompatible with neutrality.

“Arguably Ireland’s UN commitment, this State’s central strategic security doctrine, makes its facilitation of Shannon’s use in UN-mandated operations not only compatible with its security doctrine but prima facie appears to require it. Politically as well as legally. Although the Charter does provide a case by case opt-out opportunity.”

Mr Smyth said facilitating both the Afghan and Iraq-related troop transporting flights would seem to be consistent politically and legally with the spirit of both our neutrality and our commitment to multilateral security through the UN, whatever we might think about the wisdom of both operations.

However, the same could not be said of facilitating rendition flights, if that has been done. “Rendition flights are clearly illegal in international law, and clear evidence of their existence must put an extra onus on Ireland routinely to inspect flights however diplomatically embarrassing that may prove,” he said.

Dr Karen Devine, lecturer in international relations at the School of Law and Government at Dublin City University, said there was no such thing as military neutrality as distinct from neutrality.

She said neutrality was a badge of Irish independence and patriotism and it was incompatible with the EU common foreign and security policy as enacted by the Lisbon Treaty.

Ms Devine also said the Irish Government’s decision to permit hundreds of thousands of US troops through Shannon airport violated international law on neutrality and different from other neutral states.