The Republic will join the Partnership for Peace within weeks following last night's vote in the Dail approving participation in the organisation. The Department of Foreign Affairs will convey the decision to the NATO Secretariat in Brussels later this week.
Dail approval of PfP membership means Ireland will for the first time have a permanent presence at NATO headquarters in Brussels. The Ambassador to Belgium, Mr Eamonn Ryan, is expected to receive his formal accreditation to NATO by the end of the year. It is expected that two or three diplomatic personnel will be assigned to NATO headquarters.
The Dail motion on PfP membership was approved by 112 votes to 24. The Fianna Fail-PD Coalition was supported by Fine Gael. There were different stances on joining PfP among the Independents TDs who have "deals" to support the Government in the Dail. Mr Tom Gildea backed the Government while Ms Mildred Fox and Mr Harry Blaney voted against membership. Mr Jackie Healy-Rae did not vote in the division.
The Government also accepted a Fine Gael amendment that requires that any change in Irish involvement beyond the terms outlined in the presentation document be put before the Dail.
The terms of membership of PfP are set out in the Government's presentation document published last month. It foresees the Defence Forces participating in training exercises with NATO and non-NATO states at home and abroad for "peace support, search-and-rescue and humanitarian missions".
The presentation document will form the basis for Ireland's individual "partnership programme" which will now be agreed with the NATO secretariat. The partnership programme will cover Ireland's involvement in PfP over the next two years.
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said last night that the partnership programme would set out the technical and practical terms of Irish membership of PfP.
There are currently 43 countries involved in PfP, which was established in 1994 to provide a framework for regional security co-operation in Europe. Of the 43, 24 are not members of NATO.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Andrews, said that while he accepted there had been genuine concerns in regard to PfP, the terms of Irish membership were fully in keeping with "our values and peacekeeping traditions".
The State will be required to fund the costs of Irish participation, including a proportion of the cost of exercises in which Defence Forces personnel participate.
The Dail had to be suspended for 15 minutes during the PfP debate after the two Green Party TDs, Mr John Gormley and Mr Trevor Sargent, unfurled a NATO flag in the chamber. Mr Gormley accused the Taoiseach of engaging in "a bare-faced and monumental betrayal of promises made to the public". Mr Ahern had before becoming Taoiseach in July 1997 committed Fianna Fail to holding a referendum on PfP membership.