THE Green Party MEP, Ms Patricia McKenna, claimed yesterday that the Tanaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Spring, had accepted the principle of nuclear deterrence at a meeting of the Western European Union (WEU) in 1995.
However, the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr Higgins, accused Ms McKenna last night of being deliberately misleading and of distorting the truth.
Ms McKenna claimed Mr Spring had agreed to a WEU strategy document which stated: "The independent nuclear forces of the UK and France, which have a deterrent role of their own, contribute to the overall deterrence and security of the Allies." She said the strategy had been endorsed by all other 26 countries involved with the WEU.
However, a Department of Foreign Affairs spokesman said that a footnote to the sentence quoted by Ms McKenna read: "Austria, Finland, Ire land and Sweden were not party to this decision."