Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

What a pity. It moves on to Galway and then has two days in Dublin. This forum has finally put the question of neutrality on the public agenda and the public are speaking about neutrality. One of the great problems I have is that many people in this House speak about a neutrality that does not exist and that has never been enshrined in either law or the Constitution. By the way, I would be opposed to enshrining it in the Constitution. There have been allegations that people like me and Deputy Berry are mad to get the country into NATO. I wish to state today publicly that I have no desire to see Ireland become a member of NATO. There is nothing in NATO for Ireland.I have no difficulty with co-operation on peace projects or on cyber projects but I do not want to see our men and women serve in a NATO armed force unless it has peace at its heart, like what happened in the Balkans. We need to have this open and honest conversation but we cannot talk about neutrality when we are depending on other countries to protect our skies or our sea. Let us have an open and honest conversation about how we actually make Ireland neutral and how we make it a safe country for all. I want to put that on the record.

Once again, I congratulate the Taoiseach for coming out and saying this country will not be joining NATO, and the Tánaiste for putting together this forum. Let us see what comes out of this forum, let the conversation begin but let us have an open and honest one. I thank the Cathaoirleach.