Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The problem is that there is no peace in Europe and a large number of refugees are a consequence of the war efforts of imperial powers. To date, the reality is that our neutrality has not stood in the way of Ireland's participation in the ever increasing militarisation of Europe. The Minister of State did not comment on the fact that a NATO warship with Dutch military personnel onboard was openly engaged in activity and refuelling in Cork harbour last weekend. It is an Irish solution to an Irish problem to say that we are neutral yet, at the same time, we do not stand in the way of the massive number of military aircraft that pass through our so-called civilian airports on the way to perhaps refuel aircraft in Saudi Arabia, to decimate people in Yemen or destabilise the Middle East.

The Minister of State states that we are neutral but the reality is that everything we have done has been done to facilitate NATO. Will we be going along with the EU's new global security strategy? What does it mean for us? We do have a strategic link with these countries.

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