CND chairman calls for vote against those introducing NATO "by stealth"

THE chairman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) yesterday called on the electorate "to vote against all those attempting to introduce NATO by stealth on to the Irish political agenda."

At a press conference in Dublin, Mr Billy Fitzpatrick also asked people to question all party canvassers on Irish neutrality and to oppose "the militarisation of the EU".

Mr Miceal Mac Donnchadha, of Sinn Fein, said that "unfortunately" neutrality had not been a major issue in the election campaign so far, and accused the main parties of keeping it off the agenda. He drew attention to Mr Gerry Adams's condemnation of the government's decision to send Irish troops to Bosnia, where they would serve under NATO command for the first time.

Mr Adams had said that it was insulting to the electorate that this decision was taken the very day before the election was called".

Mr Roger Cole, who is member of the general council of the Lab our party and the Peace and Neutrality Alliance, said Europe had been a major issue in both the recent British and French elections, but was being ignored here. He pointed out that at the Amsterdam Summit "three weeks after the election", a treaty would be signed which will have far more implications for this State than any issue being debated in the election campaign.

Mr Joe Murray, of AFrI, expressed concern about the attitude of the American ambassador, Mrs Jean Kennedy Smith, to Irish neutrality. She had invited the JFK warship here and hosted the first NATO conference in Ireland at Malahide. He also drew attention to the presence of American and British troops with the Army at the Curragh recently.