Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Connolly for bringing this motion to the floor of the House. We are living in a world where it appears that the consequences of warfare can appear less important than the alliances that were formed in light of the way things have happened with unconditional support. This is a time when the sound bite overrides and deliberately obscures the real consequences of the actions that are essentially being approved through the use of language which contains no indication that limitations apply to the actions of war. We have heard examples of this recently with regard to actions taken against the Palestinian people in the name of defence.

Thankfully, this House has voiced reason. We have called for a ceasefire on all sides while others appear more intent on developing alliances as populations of people are displaced, bombarded and are ultimately being denied any protections that the supporters of these actions would expect to apply to themselves. I would prefer that while they use the language of war that we use the language of diplomacy, that we demand an end to the madness and that we call for a ceasefire. Our voice stands out because we speak from a position of neutrality where averting war is better than supporting it. Calls for restraint are now being voiced by some who failed to do so at the start. We have had a proud history of peacekeeping. We get involved, but we get involved in trying to bring about peace and protection and this world needs this attitude more than ever.

My thoughts are with our Irish peacekeeping troops serving in south Lebanon. I want to recognise the significant role they play in these efforts. As we have shown, we can be a sober voice among those who seek to gain alliances through military exchange and the progression of war. This is crucial in today's world.

We cannot allow decades of underinvestment in our Defence Forces and in the technology which would allow us to monitor our own waters and airspace, and our subsequent reliance on others to fill the space, to move the focus to us questioning the viability of our neutrality. Our shortcomings in this area are purely because of underinvestment by successive Governments. Neutrality does not mean that we cannot invest in protecting our territory. Compromising our neutrality will not guarantee investment in monitoring our own sea and air space. Our neutrality, therefore, is something to be protected and, as has been the consistent stance of Sinn Féin and as is referred to in this motion, we support the idea of a referendum on Irish neutrality. We believe that such a referendum would be the correct forum for a discussion on Irish neutrality to take place. Polling suggests that the majority of Irish people believe in this, as do I.

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