Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire anseo anocht don díospóireacht ar an rún iontach tábhachtach seo. I begin by welcoming the Minister and commend Senator Clonan on bringing this important, thoughtful, considered and, as others have acknowledged, timely motion for debate in the Chamber tonight. I also acknowledge Government colleagues for their decision, as I understand it, not to oppose tonight's motion. It is important for the people of this State, and indeed the people of all of Ireland, to see this Chamber united on the issue of Irish neutrality. Understandably, there are concerns going back many years that successive Governments have taken decisions which have eroded our neutrality. We recently heard comments from the Minister advocating a move away from the triple lock mechanism that protects our neutrality and that caused much concern for many. In that regard, it was also welcome to hear the Taoiseach say that changing the triple lock mechanism is not in the programme for Government. It certainly should not be but that debate is for another time.

Irish neutrality is not a recent position. It is part of the long honourable republican tradition stretching back to Wolfe Tone and is reflected in the famous banner erected by James Connolly and the Irish Citizen Army when Connolly was president of the Irish Neutrality League at the outset of the First World War. The banner declared, "We serve neither King nor Kaiser, but Ireland!" Neutrality has earned this State significant goodwill abroad and is essential to our ongoing positive relationships with other countries. Pursuing its neutrality policy, this State has built up an international reputation as peacekeeper, peace builder and peacemaker. This State is uniquely placed in a strong position to advance a policy of positive neutrality and indeed, active neutrality as well. This State's long-standing policy of neutrality, our role in peacekeeping missions and the global record of our NGOs in delivering humanitarian aid and development, has contributed to the emergence of a powerful level of soft power internationally. Arguably, it was this soft power which this Government was able to employ to secure a coveted position on the UN Security Council and it is quite significant that it was primarily the non-aligned, smaller nations of the world which voted for this State to be represented on the Security Council. Our neutrality is something we can be proud of and, as this motion states, this is reflected by our participation in many UN-sanctioned peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions on the continents of Europe, Africa and Asia without compromising our military neutrality. It gives us, dare I say, a moral standing on the international stage as well, which we would lose were we to join a military alliance.

I acknowledge that these are very dangerous times in the world. As we can see from the Russian occupation of Ukraine, smaller nations are indeed vulnerable but I do not believe this is a credible argument to join a bigger military alliance. However, it is an argument for the Government and the Irish Defence Forces to assess the readiness of the State to defend itself against aggression; not only to assess its state of readiness but also to equip and resource the Defence Forces to be able to respond to and repel any acts of aggression while maintaining our own neutrality. Earlier this year, the report from the commission on the future of the Defence Forces was published. The report called for a significant increase on the current level of funding of the Defence Forces and for an increase in pay to make it an attractive career for young men and women. We must be prepared to pay the price necessary to defend this State. The Government has many responsibilities in its response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and one of its key priorities is to ensure the Defence Forces , the Army, the Air Corps and the Naval Service, are highly resourced, trained and motivated to protect our people and to protect Ireland's neutrality.

As Sinn Féin spokesperson on defence in the Seanad, I have raised my own concern at a creeping erosion of our neutrality with the Minister and indeed, his predecessors on numerous occasions in this Chamber. My colleague, Senator Gavan, has been relentless - and I am sure he will be again tonight - in highlighting the apparent very regular and seemingly flagrant breaches of our neutrality witnessed at Shannon Airport. Like so many, I deeply value and hold dear our military neutrality and believe it is a huge asset in our global role; a role Ireland takes very seriously in building peace, dialogue and crucially, solidarity.Unfortunately, as conflicts continue to rage around the world and as we see the continued devastation caused by the climate catastrophe, now is the time to strengthen our role as respected and trusted partners in peace, peacekeeping and peacebuilding.

I thank Senator Clonan for tabling this motion. In all sincerity, I hope we do not just have a reflective dialogue on the history and importance of neutrality. There is a place for that, but, as we go forward and accept the global realities that exist, we should have a greater understanding of and commitment to being active in our neutrality. We should not just reflect on and commend our global role internationally as peacebuilders but ask what more we can do in that regard, and what we can do to ensure we do not turn our backs on people from countries around the world who are fleeing devastation, whether that is conflict or man-made climate catastrophe. We should instead invest in ensuring our Defence Forces and humanitarian organisations around the world can support and assist those people in future. This is an important debate. I look forward to continued engagement on it.