Professor Ray Murphy:

I must apologise. I assumed the Senator was in favour of the legislation proposing its abolition. The triple lock does not prevent Ireland from sending forces abroad to evacuate personnel. I think that is permissible under the current legislative framework. It has nothing to do with seeking UN mandate or UN approval. It is completely separate. I see nothing wrong. They are set out here: undertaking military close protection, military security and humanitarian tasks. My interpretation of the legislation is that is already permissible. It is just a matter of expressly incorporating it here. For clarity purposes, that is welcome. Undertaking the illicit drug trafficking by sea and air and international operations: that is potentially problematic. For example, we have run into difficulties with the humanitarian mission in the Mediterranean, when the Irish navy was participating in rescuing refugees and those fleeing from countries where there are hostilities, etc., taking place. They found a way of circumventing that by entering into bilateral arrangements. It is not actually threatened. There are ways and means of doing so.

The Senator said that nobody really cares about the triple lock. I just had a casual conversation with some people in a tent outside Leinster House as I entered here this morning and they care very deeply about it. They represent a lot of people. I am here as an individual. I am not representing any group and I am not part of any group. I state, for the purposes of clarity, for every European treaty that has come before us I have voted in favour. Not only that, but I have, on occasion, advocated with a political party advocating for a 'yes' vote. I have never really been a strong Eurosceptic but I have come to have to review some of those positions in recent years. To go back to the basics, Irish forces have a long history, which I hope will continue, of participating in UN peacekeeping operations. To make that legitimate and really important in terms of the maintenance of international peace and security, to follow with our long tradition of out foreign policy on disarmament and peaceful resolution of disputes, we should not embark on something that circumvents and avoids the United Nations. The United Nations is our best option for international peace, security, and for humanity in general. Therefore, it is the forum where we should engage and seek to be as constructive as possible. During the 1960s there were grave disputes taking place, as serious as now, within the Security Council, particularly over the UN peacekeeping operation in the Congo. We overcame those difficulties. Life is cyclical. This period of terrible tension, disruption and conflict will ultimately come to an end.

I hope when that happens that the consequences will not have been terrible for humanity in general. It is really up to middle power states like Ireland to find common ground and fight for the values of the UN.