Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the motion. This is an important time to recommit to, and make it clear, how important neutrality is and how well it has served Ireland. I echo the belief that a strong constitutional mandate is already outlined in Article 29, including devotion to the ideal of peace, the recognised principles of international law and the peaceful settlement of international disputes by arbitration or judicial determination. Those were the very early signals. We have a history of constitutional determination in respect of the various treaties we have had, which has made it very clear that military neutrality and, in fact, neutrality, has consistently been a core understanding of the Irish public's identity of themselves. Indeed, there was a reason it was the area where the public sought, received and needed to receive reassurance regarding the various treaties we have had. Those principles are important.

We have heard a lot about where Ireland was during the Second World War and so forth, but let us look to just after that war and the UN Charter, which came not at a peaceful moment but following a history of war. It stated that its commitment was to free future generations from the scourge of war, to recognise war as a terrible and destructive force in the world and to commit to the idea of international human rights law and the equal rights of all nations, small and large.These were radical ideas because they had come after centuries and, indeed, millennia of big powers, patronage of other nations and, in some cases, colonialism and the idea whereby might determines where power resides and all nations working in big-power politics. We moved to this idea of an international politics of principle. That was an incredible leap forward.

Ireland has been in the world of an international politics of principle where all nations, not just if they were a nation's neighbour or one with which they had a trading relationship, speak together in respect of the work of peace. That has been fundamental and Ireland has been within that space, because it is a neutral country trusted to act on those principles of international law and not on matters of interests, alliances or what our friends wish to achieve in order to serve other goals. When it comes to these crucial issues, Ireland has worked for peace and spoken about conflict from the principle of international law and, indeed, multilateralism.

That is why I am very strongly critical of any move away from the triple lock or any idea whereby we decide in parallel who we wish to support based on whether we think something should happen. We have to secure the triple lock. If we want reform, there is a case for the removal the veto from all Security Council members because they are nations to be set at a tier above with regard to the UN General Assembly being able to make decisions. However, we need to make that case in the multilateral international space and not undermine our credibility by trying to step outside of it. That is crucial.

One of the most crucial lines in this motion is that "Ireland’s membership of any military alliance would immediately diminish and undermine our international reputation as an independent and impartial nation state". We talked about our soft power. That power is not just from our being lovely to chat to. It is the credibility we have built up over years. One cannot have soft power on one side and then say one wishes to hang out with these defence ministers from NATO on the other. One undermines one's credibility by doing so. Our soft power is very effective in the world.

Frank Aiken signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons on behalf of the first country to do so. Bear in mind we have heard a lot about building defence to build security and peace. Of course we need to resource the workers in our armed forces in particular in order that they have proper pay and conditions but one of the great defences we have is disarmament. Bear in mind Frank Aiken signed the treaty when the arms race was taking off and there was the idea every country needed a nuclear weapon in order to preserve itself. Signing the treaty was a move away from that and said disarmament is what builds peace. The Convention on Cluster Munitions was also a moment of real pride for Ireland which has saved lives.

With regard to the humanitarian access Ireland has had and recruitment and retention in the navy, I will highlight the highest point of membership of the navy was when Ireland was saving 8,000 people a year in the Mediterranean, which we sadly moved away from. The Minister for Defence at the time said we had moved from a humanitarian to a security focus. We have something special and precious and we cannot be complacent about it or think one can chip away at neutrality or de factodelete it and then still be able to hold that space. Let us be proud of our neutrality. I welcome the motion and I commend Senator Clonan on bringing it forward. Our being neutral makes Ireland strong.