Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Lisbon treaty provides that a group of member states can strengthen their co-operation in defence matters by setting up a permanent structured co-operation, which is known as PESCO. When we pointed out that there was not nearly enough debating time on this matter and that the public is not aware of it, the Government pointed out that as the provision was in the Lisbon treaty, it has been in place since 2009. If that is the case and if this was a foregone conclusion anyway, why did the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, say she could never have imagined at the start of her mandate three years ago that the EU would take such steps? Why did she say that? I do not understand that. The President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, likened the defence push to a fairy tale come true for EU integration. If this was all on the cards anyway, why would he say that? It actually was not.

There is a notion that this does not affect our neutrality. The Minister and I exchanged views on the "Saturday with Claire Byrne" programme. He said that our neutrality cannot be interfered with and Claire Byrne responded that the people of Ireland would not have a vote on a referendum on opting in or out. The Minister said that if it impacted on the Constitution it would obviously have to go to a referendum, as we are a constitutionally neutral country. That is not actually true. Neutrality is not enshrined in the Constitution. Edward Horgan tested that in 2003. Mr. Justice Kearns ruled that Irish neutrality is not in the Constitution but is Government policy, to be implemented as it sees fit.

As it turns out, we know that we abandoned neutrality in 2001 by allowing Shannon Airport to be used for military purposes. The Minister will remember that on the same programme, I asked whether, were an alternative government to appear in the coming years that allowed the Russians to use Shannon Airport as a military base, Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and Labour - which have all backed US military use of Shannon Airport - would say that alternative Government was acting neutrally? They would not. They would be right not to. It would not be neutral to let the Russians in, no more than it is neutral to let the Americans in.

There is an amendment in the Constitution for which Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív, who is a Fianna Fáil man believe it or not, was responsible.The amendment states "The State shall not adopt a decision taken by the European Council to establish a common defence pursuant to Article 42 of the Treaty on European Union where that common defence would include the State." We are actually breaking the rules. We are joining a common defence. That is a fact and that is against the Constitution. We have checked it out and it looks like we would find it difficult to win an appeal on the issue but it is a fact. Our neutrality has been sold down the river.

The Irish people in general have no interest in being involved with any country militarily, be it the Russians, the Americans, the French, the Brits or whoever. We do not want anything to do with them. For whatever reason, however, a certain section of the establishment in Ireland has a love affair with American military efforts. The militarisation of the world has gone out of control. The US has just announced an increase in its military budget for 2018. It will spend €700 billion in 2018 on defence when it has 50 million people at risk of poverty. It is nuts and we are helping it to bomb places.

There is a love-in with President Kennedy. There is a school in Wexford named in honour of him. It is such nonsense. People must remember that Kennedy proactively laid the foundations for what was probably the most savage war since the Second World War, namely, the war in Vietnam. Some 3 million Vietnamese people and more than 57,000 US military personnel died. In May 1963, Kennedy was asked to assess the situation in Vietnam. He said:

We don’t have a prayer of staying in Vietnam. Those people hate us. They are going to throw our asses out of there at any point. But I can’t give up that territory to the communists and get the [American] people to re-elect me.

What did he do? He put his electoral ambitions before the lives of US soldiers and millions of Vietnamese people. What a lovely man. His picture hangs over the mantelpiece of many houses in Ireland and we have a school named in honour of him in Wexford. One would not be well.

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