Paul Donnelly (Dublin West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin wants Ireland’s neutrality to be enshrined in the Constitution following a referendum. With this in mind, we fully support the People Before Profit-Solidarity Bill. Ireland is a militarily neutral state. We are not aligned with any military alliance. This legislation seeks to provide that the State shall not participate in any war or other armed conflict, nor aid foreign powers in any way in the preparation for war.

Several opinion polls that have been conducted, including one in the middle of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, have clearly indicated that there remains an overwhelming level of support for Ireland’s position of neutrality. Above all, we should be using our seat on the UN Security Council to search for an end to the conflict and leading the drive at the UN for the opening of humanitarian corridors to provide relief and assistance to civilians.

Ireland has a long and distinguished history of peacekeeping missions, and this must be protected and cherished rather than giving up our neutrality and the relationships built up in many countries across the world. However, neutrality comes at a cost and the Government needs to commit to funding the Defence Forces to allow them to do the job they are qualified to do. From reports from the Defence Forces' representative groups, the Government is failing to support the Defence Forces here and in their obligations to the UN.

It seems that many in Fianna Fáil, and in particular in Fine Gael, over recent weeks are using the Ukrainian crisis to further their long-held agenda to involve Ireland in some form of military alliance with those countries that have long histories of brutal colonial murder and war crimes. They were most recently involved in horrific wars in Libya, Afghanistan, Syria and many African countries. Let us be clear, and it has been stated already, it will not be the children of the proponents of military alliances who are sent to war zones, based on lies such as those relating to the Iraq war. It will be ordinary, working-class young people, who come from my area and from areas around the country. This clamour for involvement in military alliances is disturbing. It is not what this country needs or wants.

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