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

We were recently a member of the Security Council for two years. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which the Deputy mentioned, is a catalyst for change because Russia, at the moment, has a veto on whether we would ever participate in a peacekeeping mission sanctioned by the UN Security Council. Surely the Deputy is not suggesting our hands should be tied, in terms of participation in peacekeeping, by Russia. I know that in 2014, his party had a different view and kind of acquiesced in Russia's invasion of Crimea, when it did not raise the issue anywhere, but it has opposed the current invasion. I do not understand how we could allow Russia to paralyse us.

To give an example, a possibility of a veto emerged in 2022 in respect of the renewal of UN authorisation for EUFOR, or Operation Althea, and Ireland was a member of the UN Security Council at the time. We were in a position to play a key role in securing the renewal of that UN mandate for that mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina, where five members of the Defence Forces were deployed. A similar case arose in 1999. There are a number of examples where the veto has been used to stop peacekeeping.

We should bear in mind that the UN has sanctioned the European Union as a peacekeeping entity, along with the African Union and regional bodies of that kind in the past.

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