OPINION: Ignoring the country’s neutrality

Politics is a dirty game, at every level. Some say that it’s the art of the possible. That’s true, but it is also the art of the cynical.
While we all stand on the sidelines watching the horrors in Israel and Gaza unfold, there are political opportunists using it as a smokescreen. Politicians always seek advice on when is the ‘best time’ to release unwelcome news that would otherwise dominate the headlines. The answer is simple, bury it while a major story has the headlines and front pages.
For the past few years both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael senior ministers have been chomping at the bit to get Ireland aligned and supporting the move towards a European army. The triple lock – a UN mandate, Government approval, Dáil approval through a resolution – prevents Irish participation of more than 12 Irish troops in military peace-keeping operations outside the country, unless all these three ducks are in a row.
Last Wednesday, Tánaiste Micheál Martin announced that the Government plans to introduce legislation to get rid of the triple lock. This signals a major change in Irish foreign policy. If, or when, this happens, it will allow the Government to send Irish military personnel wherever, whenever.
The upside is that our little country will be seen as the EU compliant member it has always been, part of the whole. The downside – and this bleak image is not meant to scaremonger – is that future generations could find themselves peering into EU-stamped body bags identifying their Irish war dead.
Speaking in the Dáil, Micheál Martin said: “It would therefore make sense, I believe, to amend our existing legislation in a manner which would allow us to respond to crisis situations with more agility, and where in making these important decisions, we are not surrendering our sovereignty.”
‘Agility’? And as for ‘sovereignty’? That will be handed over to the EU while he cites Russia’s UN Security Council permanent member’s role as dictating our foreign policy.
The Journal reported: “In 2013, the Green Paper on Defence, published by former Defence Minister Alan Shatter, argued that the positives of the system outweighed the negatives, recommending to retain the policy, and cited ‘substantial public support’.
“In 2014, the then-Defence Minister Simon Coveney noted that keeping the triple lock system could result in a situation ‘where there is a pressing moral or security imperative and overwhelming international support’ for a military response, but that a UN sanction might not be forthcoming as a veto could be exercised by a permanent member of the Security Council. 
“A change to the system was mooted by Coveney in 2022 after Fine Gael members voted in favour of such a move at its annual conference. At the time, Coveney said he didn’t see a move away from the triple lock as ‘radical change’.” 
The Green Party has also dropped its support for the triple lock.
Following fierce political and public debate and criticism, the Consultative Forum on International Security Policy Forum (examining Ireland’s place in global foreign affairs) took place in June in various cities across the country. It reported in October that the country’s current defence strategy will still ‘pose challenges’. It also noted that there was no mandate from the public to change the country’s policy of neutrality.
Essentially, the Consultative Forum and Micheál Martin have bookended the conversation on the triple lock, which is now over.
Last month, the EU held its first live military exercise – an effort to show the world it’s a serious security and defense player that can operate without NATO. The exercise involved 2,800 personnel from nine countries – Austria, Spain, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal and Romania.
On November 14, the 27 EU Ministers of Defence, including Micheál Martin, approved the 2023 EU Capability Development, a baseline for EU-wide defence planning and EU defence-related initiatives. This chipping away at the country’s neutrality is neither honest nor acceptable. It is a political cynical exercise.
The Constitution states that Ireland will not join the EU’s Common Defence when it’s created. Why not bring forward a referendum on neutrality? Politicians keep telling us ‘the people have spoken’, then let them speak on this issue.