Martin Kenny (Sligo-Leitrim, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

PESCO is the beginning of the creation of a standing EU army. At the press conference after PESCO was agreed Frederica Mogherini said:

[W]e are building the European Union of Security and Defence. It is not a plan anymore, it is not a dream anymore, it is reality coming true.

It is disgraceful that this Government and its partners in Fianna Fáil have once again tried to sneak a motion through this House quickly and quietly in order to undermine Ireland's neutrality. It is obvious why it is doing this. Neutrality is popular in Ireland. It wants to undermine and destroy it but will not do so in the open because people would not stand for it. It is shameful that the Independent Alliance Deputies, who for years in opposition spoke passionately in favour of Irish neutrality and repeatedly supported Sinn Féin's attempts to have a referendum to enshrine neutrality in Bunreacht na hÉireann, now do not have the courage to stand in favour of neutrality and vote against this at Cabinet or in the Dáil. They want to lock us into an EU defence union which will involve massively increased arms spending and overseas interventions and package it as some benign agreement. Yesterday, we spoke here about neurological services and the problems facing that sector and our health service yet today we are talking about spending money on foreign intervention and an EU army. It looks ridiculous to the public outside here.

Sinn Féin has repeatedly spoken out against the further militarisation of the EU and the creation of this EU army. We opposed it at every step. We were repeatedly labelled as scaremongers and fantasists. During the Lisbon treaty campaign Sinn Féin and others on the "No" side pointed out that accepting the treaty would lead to the creation of an EU army. One of the major reasons that the Irish people rejected the Lisbon treaty the first time was concern for Irish neutrality. We were then told we misled the public and Fianna Fáil, with Fine Gael and the Labour Party's support, ran the referendum again but this time with a supposed promise from the EU that Ireland's neutrality would be respected. We were also repeatedly told an EU army would not be created, that it was a fallacy and would not happen. Once again, Sinn Féin has been proved right in its criticism of the EU and the establishment parties' desire to join an EU army are being laid bare for all to see.

During the short debate yesterday the Taoiseach said this is not a new issue, it is the Lisbon treaty. This is part of a long line of actions by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Labour Party to dismantle Irish neutrality. In 1997, the Fianna Fáil-led Government signed Ireland up to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, NATO's, Partnership for Peace despite promises to the contrary, and a pre-election promise that it would call a referendum on this issue. Who heads NATO? Who drives it? The Americans. Donald Trump. Where are we going with all this?

The same parties, when in power between 2002 and 2004, involved this State in supporting an illegal invasion of Iraq based on concocted evidence. In 2003 alone, they allowed more than 3,500 military aircraft to overfly Irish airspace and well over 125,000 US troops to use Shannon Airport as a pit-stop on their way to wage war through invasion and occupation of other parts of the world. They repeatedly denied this was so and refused to put any decision before the Dáil until it was too late. Between 2002 and 2011 it is estimated that over 2.2 million US troops passed through Shannon Airport.

If the Dáil votes in favour of PESCO here today this will not be over because the people will have to have their say at some stage. Sinn Féin will campaign in the next election on the promise of holding a referendum on enshrining neutrality in Bunreacht na hÉireann, removing Ireland from PESCO and the NATO Partnership for Peace.

I often look at clips on television and see troops passing through Shannon Airport. President Trump's troops are passing through Ireland, yet the vast majority of Irish people stand in opposition to everything he represents and everything those soldiers do. It is evident to anyone with an ounce of common sense that this is wrong and moving in the wrong direction. I suggest the Government needs to rethink as the vast majority of people are in a different space. It is regrettable that Fianna Fáil is also in the same place as the Government. At the end of the day, when all is said and done, we all want a peaceful, democratic society. We are all talking about the threats from abroad, including the threat of terrorism. Our actions and what we are allowing to happen at Shannon Airport represent the biggest threat to our peace. If we join PESCO, it will increase our vulnerability.

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