Ireland not ‘galloping towards’ new military alliances, Taoiseach says

The Government has “no intention of changing its current policy in respect of military neutrality” and there is “no galloping towards new alliances”, according to Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

He was speaking following questions in the Dáil about the motion approved at the Fine Gael ardfheis to go from a “triple lock” to a “double lock” approval before decisions are made allowing the deployment of Defence Forces members to international military operations.

Currently for a mission of more than 12 troops to be mandated there has to be a triple lock of approval by Government decision, by the Dáil and by a UN resolution.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney told the ardfheis that moving to a double-lock approval process would be “a sensible change”, not a “radical change”, because Russia as a member of the UN Security Council can effectively veto Irish participation.

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Russian veto

Mr Martin said that the Minister “referenced the triple lock more in the context of the need for reform of the United Nations, and particularly the veto that Russia has on the security council”. He told People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett that Russia was responsible for an “outrageous attack on Ukraine” but still remains on the council.

“And my point is, it is not tenable that that situation continues. There has to be reform of the UN,” he said.

Mr Boyd Barrett described removing the triple lock as “an outrageous attack on our neutrality” which was not in line with what the majority of people want. He claimed it would “essentially create more flexibility, I suppose, for the government to deploy Irish troops in military adventures and conflicts”.

The Dún Laoghaire TD said it was an important restriction on any government “abandoning our neutrality and further galloping towards the involvement of this country in Nato or in the project of EU militarisation”.

In reply, the Taoiseach insisted that “the Government has no intention of changing its current policy in respect of military force”.

“There’s no galloping towards new alliances or anything like that,” he said.

False assertion

He claimed that Mr Boyd Barrett consistently makes that “false assertion in the House” but it was not the case.

When Mr Boyd Barrett referenced America’s role on the security council, the Taoiseach accused him of engaging in “whataboutery” and said “the bottom line is you attack United States far more than Russia”.

There was an issue with Russia on the security council, he said, adding that People Before Profit TDs were “just putting your head in the sand” if they did not think there was an issue.

He said Mr Coveney was “quite entitled to articulate a view on that. I think we still need a triple lock in terms of the (UN) General Assembly”.

“And I have suggested we need a citizen’s assembly to discuss these issues in a more informed, deliberative way, than has been the case to date,” Mr Martin added.