Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The international security environment has changed significantly over the last year. In order to build a deeper understanding of the threats faced by the State and the links to and between our foreign, security and defence policy, I have convened a consultative forum on international security policy to discuss the issues involved. The consultative forum will take place in three different locations: on 22 June at University College Cork, on 23 June at the University of Galway and on 26 and 27 June at Dublin Castle. It will be chaired by Louise Richardson, formerly vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford and principal and vice-chancellor of the University of St. Andrews. The forum will be a broad discussion, examining issues such as Ireland's work to protect the rules-based international order through our engagement in peacekeeping, conflict prevention and peacebuilding and arms control and disarmament. It will examine new and emerging threats including cyber, hybrid, disinformation and threats to critical infrastructure. The forum will also examine our current and future engagement in EU Common Security and Defence Policy, CSDP, as well as our existing relationship with NATO through the Partnership for Peace. Attendance at the forum will consist of invited guests from Ireland and internationally with expertise and practical experience in the areas to be discussed. The full programme detailing moderators and panellists will be made available when finalised. I anticipate that those attending will include non-governmental organisations, academics and others, in addition to members of the general public for whom spaces will be reserved.

Discussions will be livestreamed and there will be an option for online submissions. There are no restrictions on who can and cannot make online submissions. The objective of the forum is to initiate an open and evidence-based discussion on the State’s foreign and security policy. Anyone interested in engaging in the process will be able to do so. The Department of Defence and the Department of Foreign Affairs have already contacted academic and policy institutions to encourage engagement and discussion on the issues the forum will focus on and will continue these contacts in the weeks ahead. Full details of the programme over the four days, as well as the arrangements for registration, livestreaming and the making of submissions, will be published by the Department of Defence and the Department of Foreign Affairs in the coming weeks. Importantly, there are no predetermined or preconceived outcomes from discussions at the forum and participants will be free to raise any relevant issues during deliberations. The chair’s report will outline what transpired over the four days but will not include recommendations. Once presented to me, I will consider its findings and decide whether to make recommendations to the Government.

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