Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 3 July 2025
Committee on Defence and National Security
General Scheme of the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025: Discussion (Resumed)
2:00 am
Ms Niamh Ní Bhriain:
I thank the committee for the opportunity to speak. This Bill would severely erode Irish neutrality, a policy that has characterised Ireland's engagement with the world since the foundation of the State and one that has kept Ireland safe and served it well through a world war, a Cold War and a so-called "global war on terror". If Ireland abandons the triple lock and begins deploying troops on EU-led and, potentially, NATO-led missions, it may embroil Ireland in foreign wars that have nothing to do with us and may expose Ireland to attack. Considering that Irish troops already participate in EU battle group training exercises, future deployment on EU-led and, potentially, NATO-led missions is not something that is unlikely but, rather, a foregone conclusion if the triple lock is abolished. Members should seriously think and question whether such deployments could ever be compatible with Irish neutrality and reflect on the grave and inherent risks that will stem from approving legislation that would permit those deployments to take place.
The EU, like the UN, was born out of the ashes of the Second World War, but it has clearly lost its way. There is mounting evidence that the EU does not uphold international law. Its approval of Israel throughout the commission of a genocide is a case in point. There are other examples. For Ireland to retreat from UN peacekeeping missions and participate in EU battle groups is hugely problematic. The EU’s training mission in Mali is a case in point in this regard. Numerous Defence Forces personnel participated in the training of the Malian armed forces. The Malian national security forces received training and finance from the EU, and later went on to participate in two coups and horrific human rights violations that saw hundreds of civilians killed. Irish troops were involved in training those Malian soldiers. This is characteristic of the EU training missions and not an isolated case.
I will finish by reflecting on some conversations I had that took place during a neutrality roadshow, a people-led initiative that saw 22 events take place over 30 days across 19 counties and which engaged hundreds of people. People across Ireland expressed deep concern and alarm at the wholesale erosion of Irish neutrality. Many did not realise that neutrality was not protected in the Constitution. The wilful obfuscation by the Government regarding the triple lock has left many people feeling blindsided and ill-equipped to challenge the Government's narrative, although they instinctively know - in the same way we did with the Nice and Lisbon treaties - that something fundamental is taking shape. I feel a particular responsibility to mothers, family members of Defence Forces personnel, teenagers and former peacekeepers, who shared their stories with me during the neutrality roadshow and expressed genuine fear at what may lie ahead if the triple lock is abolished.
We need to be very clear that this Bill is about putting people in harm’s way. I urge all members of the committee to scrutinise and vote on this legislation as though they were sending their own sons and daughters to be deployed with EU battle groups. Those members who do vote in favour of and enact this legislation should know that if Irish personnel are deployed to future wars from which they return maimed, traumatised or perhaps in body bags – no one returns from war unscathed – their cards will have been marked and voting in favour of this legislation will be their legacy. I thank the committee.
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