Defence and neutrality will move to the centre of political debate in the coming months, with legislation abolishing the United Nations (UN) veto over the deployment of Irish troops on peacekeeping missions due to come before the Dáil having first been announced by the Taoiseach more than two years ago.
As a TD, President-elect Catherine Connolly expressed strong opposition to the move, so her handling of the legislation will be closely watched.
She may well refer it to the Supreme Court, as she is entitled to do, but that will be the limit of her constitutional power.
Whatever happens, a full debate on the so-called triple lock – which gives the UN Security Council the final say as to whether Irish defence personnel can be deployed – will have a positive impact if it focuses the minds of the political class, and the electorate, on the choices that have to be made in this increasingly dangerous world.
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It would help if the Government leaders stopped parroting the line about their commitment to our traditional neutrality and actually spelt out what they mean by it, and how they see Ireland’s role in an increasingly defence-orientated EU.
Those who want to maintain the triple lock are even more obscure about what they mean by neutrality.
Some oppose involvement in any mutual defence arrangements, others use it as a cover to attack the EU and Nato as “western imperialist aggressors”, and there is also a pacifist strain that is opposed to all military spending.
The Taoiseach and Tánaiste have emphasised repeatedly that Ireland’s position is one of military neutrality, and does not involve avoiding taking a strong view on international conflicts. On Ukraine and Gaza, this country has taken a decisive political stance, which has aroused the ire of the Russian and Israeli governments.
[ Support for triple lock slips, but most still favour keeping itOpens in new window ]
Speaking after his participation in a meeting of the “coalition of the willing”, involving Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other European leaders last weekend, Taoiseach Micheál Martin reiterated Ireland’s support for Ukraine, and welcomed the work of the international coalition to come up with adequate security guarantees for the besieged country.
Yet, while Martin has been unambiguous about giving full political support to Ukraine and backs the efforts of others to supply it with weapons to defend itself, our neutrality is taken to mean that we can’t directly fund the purchase of the military equipment that is required to do the job.
We are reliant on the Royal Navy to protect us, but not willing to acknowledge it
Our stance looks a bit absurd in light of the fact that we are actually providing military aid to Ukraine through the EU. Ireland is now the second biggest per capita contributor to the EU budget so we are indirectly paying a substantial sum towards the purchase of military hardware for the defence of Ukraine.
Ireland will host the EU presidency in the second half of next year and defence will be one of the big, if not the biggest, items on the agenda.
It will be a challenge for the Government to lead the discussion on this fundamental issue, particularly so if it is not clear about the role it wants this country to play.
It is about time we faced up to the full implications of EU membership. As Seán Lemass said when Ireland first applied to join the European Economic Community in the 1960s: “If Europe is worth joining, it is worth defending.”
[ Record defence budget unveiled with 11% boost to military spendingOpens in new window ]
What few people in Ireland appreciate is that our neutrality is widely regarded as a joke by outsiders, particularly as we spend such a derisory amount on defence. While that is changing we have a long way to go before we are capable of doing anything in our own defence, never mind helping others.
It is widely known that Russian submarines have been mapping the transatlantic cables in Irish waters, which carry about 75 per cent of the data travelling between Europe and the United States. After decades of underfunding, the Irish Defence Forces have no idea what is going on in the seas around Ireland.
The debate on the triple lock should be the start, rather than the end, of the process
The navy doesn’t have the ships, the personnel or even the electronic equipment to monitor hostile activity in our waters. The British navy is undoubtedly keeping tabs on what is happening on the sea bed around Ireland – which is just as well because an attack by Russia or its agents on the undersea cables is now well within the realms of possibility.
It is a sad commentary on our century of independence that we are reliant on the Royal Navy to protect us, but not willing to acknowledge it.
There is a strange dissonance about public discourse on defence issues in this country. People expect the State to go to any lengths to protect them from internal threats such as criminality, but are oblivious to threats from outside that could undermine our existence as an independent nation.
There is a complacent assumption that Ireland will never be attacked, and that if it is then others, particularly the UK, will come to our aid. It is time to get real about defence. The debate on the triple lock should be the start, rather than the end, of the process.
