Dáil debates

Thursday, 24 November 2016

An Bille um an gCúigiú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht (Neodracht) 2016: Second Stage [Private Members] - Thirty-Fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Neutrality) Bill 2016: Second Stage [Private Members]

 

5:15 pm

Photo of Seán CroweSeán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I tabled a similar Bill in the previous Dáil that was supported by members of what is now the Independent Alliance. I hope that they will be consistent and vote in favour of this Bill next week rather than the Government's weak amendment, which is a continuation of the status quoand the undermining of Irish neutrality.

In the 2003 version of this Bill, we got the support of the Labour Party, which was in opposition at the time. Rather strangely, when Labour was in government last year and could act on the issue, in its wisdom it chose not to support my neutrality Bill. Let us hope that, now that Labour is back in "radical mode", it will again support this Bill.

The aim of the Bill is to give power and choice to the Irish people to decide by referendum if they want to enshrine neutrality in Bunreacht na hÉireann. Who could be afraid of that? I appeal to all parties and Teachtaí Dála to allow the Bill to pass Second Stage and let us begin an honest and open debate about Ireland's policy of neutrality. It is important to enshrine such a fundamental principle in Bunreacht na hÉireann because successive Governments have breached the Hague Convention and undermined Irish neutrality. The Government amendment is a continuation of that. It claims that there are already constitutional protections for neutrality, but the reality is that neutrality is not mentioned once in Bunreacht na hÉireann. This has allowed successive Governments to tear strips off neutrality piece by piece against the wishes of the majority of Irish people.

As neutrality is not protected in the Constitution, previous Governments have signed Ireland up to NATO's Partnership for Peace and allowed and facilitated the civilian airport in Shannon to become a virtual forward airbase for the US military. The current Government continues to support Ireland's involvement in the emerging EU military structures. A referendum to insert neutrality would bring greater clarity to the State's neutrality policy, which has become blurred, distorted and riddled with double speak as successive Governments say one thing but do the opposite.

Given that the momentum behind the creation of a EU army has been accelerated by Mr. Donald Trump's election and Brexit, the Bill is timely. This week, the European Parliament voted in favour of a report on the creation of an enhanced EU armed force. The report called on the EU to develop a European military-industrial complex and set aside EU and national funds in order to do so. Children go to bed hungry while taxpayers' hard-earned money is wasted on military funding. Sinn Féin's MEPs voted against this disastrous project and attack on Irish neutrality.

The Government amendment references The Global Island foreign policy document, which only mentions neutrality twice in 57 pages. That Fine Gael's MEPs abstained on the recent European Parliament report shows how much these empty commitments mean to them. It is also significant that, in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's most recent strategy statement for 2015 to 2017, Irish neutrality is not mentioned once.

We do not need to look to Brussels to find the Government's undermining of neutrality, we just need to focus our attention on Shannon Airport. Some 2.25 million US troops have passed through Shannon Airport since 2002. Like many others, Teachtaí Wallace and Clare Daly have consistently raised the issue of the failure and the need for the Garda authorities to investigate and search flights carrying military personnel through Shannon. Their recent court case heard important evidence from military and security experts that detailed how foreign militaries transport weaponry on aircraft passing through Shannon. These airplanes are guarded by Irish Army personnel and the Garda, but they have never been given an order to do even a cursory search of these craft for weapons. Shannonwatch has provided the Garda with all of this information and more but, strangely, no investigation has taken place to our knowledge. Shannon is a civilian airport and not built for military traffic. An accident or crash there could cause major civilian casualties.

Some Deputies will argue that neutrality is outdated. I do not agree. We live in a world where half of the population lives in poverty, with one person in every eight suffering from malnutrition, and where poverty kills approximately 19 people every minute of every day, yet trillions of euro are spent on military expenditure every year. To ensure that we live in a safer and more equal world, greater military expenditure is not the solution, nor is supporting the creation of an EU army and assisting NATO. We need to challenge the very structures that cause poverty, food insecurity, conflict and division.

If Ireland followed a policy of positive neutrality, the State could make a significant and powerful contribution towards the long-held global objective of an international peace with justice. Through a policy of positive neutrality, the State would not look to increase its military spending or take part in the arms trade and profit from war and people's misery. Instead, it could focus on enhancing the economic, social, political and cultural rights of people worldwide.

If we redoubled our efforts to focus on working with countries on implementing global targets on issues such as land rights, climate change, citizen participation, economic equality and government accountability, surely the world would become a better and safer place for us all. Irish neutrality is not a policy of opting out of international affairs. Rather, it is a genuine commitment to a different type of international politics that is focused on justice, development and human rights.

Sinn Féin supports the continued role of Irish troops in UN peacekeeping missions around the world and the brave work that they do. Blue helmet peacekeeping missions and Irish Aid continue to be two of the most positive pillars of the State's foreign affairs over the decades. Surely it is long past time that power was given to the Irish people to decide on Ireland's on future and on whether neutrality should be at the core of that policy.

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