Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will do my best in a minute but, like the previous speaker, I would appreciate an opportunity to speak on this at some length. I compliment the other Members in the House who have been realistic in their assessment of the position.

I totally disagree with the Bill. We have long since established ourselves, since 1939, as a neutral country but we never had a tradition of neutrality in this country before that. It was a correct decision, even though it was a Fianna Fáil Taoiseach who took it. It was a correct decision in the circumstances at the time. Let us remember that a number of other countries across Europe were neutral as well. It did not stand up for long when the aggressor came on the scene and knocked at the gates, and he did not knock at the gate to ask if he could please come in for a little while. He said, "You are gone. That it is. It is all over."

One dangerous aspect here today is that we seem to have been identified by some speakers in the House as collaborators in some way in a war. We are not. One should never go down that road because it has implications.

The other issue emanating from this is the possibility of the closure of Shannon Airport. That is the reality of some of what has been said in this House today. If a Member wants to close down Shannon Airport, he or she should stand up and say so, and come out into the open.

We all support the United Nations. It has worked in many cases and failed in others. The war in the Balkans was a classic example of the latter. I would like to spend time on this subject. It is a subject that I have studied for years and I enjoy talking about it, but there is no time or space to do it now. Hopefully, we will have another occasion shortly.

See this speech in context