Rory Montgomery
THE BIG argument behind the frustration of Leo Varadkar and Micheál Martin, who feel blocked from getting young Irish people to tool up and go to war with the big boys in the west, is that the triple lock on sending Irish troops abroad shackles independent Irish foreign initiatives. Russia, it is argued, has a United Nations Security Council veto over member states, thus preventing Ireland’s freedom to act across the globe as exemplified by the situation in Ukraine. However, just one of the own goals that foreign minister Martin’s forum on security and defence let in recently was the uncontested statement by pro-neutrality activists that this argument is something of a canard.
After an erudite list of overwhelmingly pro-western military speakers discussed EU security and defence policy, Tom Crilly of the Peace and Neutrality Alliance (Pana) stood up and made the following address: “The triple-lock mechanism plays an important role in Irish neutrality as government ministers repeat the narrative that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has changed everything. We have a new dictator, a new enemy, our policies must change. We cannot let Russia with their position on the UN Security Council dictate our foreign policy as to where we send Irish troops.
“Following research by Pana we found there is not a single instance of Russia or the USSR vetoing an Irish peace-keeping mission of the United Nations. Over the last number of years, 95% of resolutions at the United Nations Security Council have been passed and a permanent member has exercised a veto in only 5% of cases.”
In fact the only example ever cited by government is one in February 1999 – nearly 25 years ago – when China vetoed a mission to Macedonia because the latter had established diplomatic relations with Taiwan.
Session chair Rory Montgomery – described as a Queen’s University Belfast academic but who also happens to have been a long-time Iveagh House mandarin – interrupted Tom Crilly to insist that he address the literal title of the session, the EU common security and defence policy. The Pana man ploughed on regardless, pointing out that while Russia had indeed “committed many crimes”, the US and its Nato allies had devastated Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya in the last 20 years in illegal wars.
Just one person among the forum’s “inclusive… variety” of speakers and attendees proclaimed by Martin clapped Tom Crilly and his remarks were nowhere reported in the media.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy questioned Taoiseach Leo Varadkar in the Dáil last April (see The Phoenix 16/6/23) about the blowing up of the Nord Stream pipeline linking Russia to Germany last year, an act of sabotage that few people believe was down to the Russians. Vlad had just returned from the North Sea Summit in Ostend, which was attended by leaders of the main EU countries as well as Britain and Norway, and Murphy asked if “there was any discussion at this summit about Nord Stream, in particular the blowing up or destruction of Nord Stream, which had such devastating impacts on people”.
Murphy continued: “There was a recent vote at the UN Security Council whereby the US and several of its allies abstained on a motion in order to block a resolution providing for an independent international investigation to find out who was responsible. Was that discussed at the summit? Does the Irish Government agree with the idea of an independent international investigation and will it support efforts to create one?”
Vlad did not say if he supported an independent inquiry. Nor did he say why our western ‘allies’ – not Russia – used the UN Security Council to block such a worthwhile initiative.
