Chris Andrews (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the ongoing dismantling of Irish neutrality and the attempt to get rid of the triple lock, which it should be noted is being supported by many in the media. The reality is that the only people who will benefit from war and the ending of our neutrality are those in the armaments industry. That industrial complex makes billions of euro. It accounts for a tiny fraction of the population, yet it makes vast amounts of money. A quote that resonated with me was "a rich man's war drenched in the poor man's blood". For me, that sums up the futility of war and what happens in war, because when you look at the front lines in the Russian army and the Ukrainian army, you realise it is not the affluent there. It is the working communities and inner city communities. It is the disadvantaged people who are going there out of economic necessity. That is the futility of war. We seem to be rushing into the belief that we can just empty our disadvantaged communities into a war and somehow it is noble. There is nothing noble about war.

Ireland's peacekeeping missions are second to none. They have given us huge credibility internationally, and the idea that would all effectively be done away with by joining a military alliance makes no sense. I have spoken to many who have been on peacekeeping duty. They do not go because they want to go. They mostly go out of economic necessity, and it makes a difference. It gives them an opportunity to pay bills or maybe to buy a house. Irish Army personnel are not paid enough. We have to defend our neutrality because we can be sure that it will not be the children of The Irish Times readers on the front line. It will not be the children of Ministers on the front line in any war. It will be ordinary working class communities who are being pushed into war out of economic necessity, and like I say, the only people who will benefit from that are those in the armaments industry.