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Since the conflict began in Ukraine, western governments have scrambled to form and maintain a united front against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression. They’ve imposed heavy sanctions and pledged military and humanitarian aid in support of Ukraine.
Ireland, despite being a small island nation, has played no small part in the diplomatic efforts in recent weeks, as a member of the European Union and with its seat on the UN Security Council. As Ireland is a neutral country, the government here has had to navigate the new geopolitical realities under that umbrella and this has caused much frustration and debate at home in recent weeks.
Speaking last month, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said, “Whilst militarily neutral, we’re not politically neutral”, a line repeated by senior ministers since this conflict began.
But what does Irish neutrality mean in the face of a fresh global crisis in 2022? Many would say that the Irish government bypassed neutrality 20 years ago by nailing its colours to the US mast by facilitating the landing of US military personnel at Shannon Airport. Can Ireland truly maintain a neutral stance with Russian troops at the door of Europe?
During Leaders’ Questions In the Dáil this week, Galway TD Catherine Connolly expressed her anger at recent comments around neutrality, saying “the policy of neutrality is not a passive policy. It’s a very active policy”. Here, former foreign affairs minister Charlie Flanagan and People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett set out their views on Irish neutrality in a changing world:
Charlie Flanagan: Ireland must get serious on Security and Defence…
IN FUTURE YEARS when the history of this century is being written, February 2022 will be marked as the month when President Putin of Russia unleashed the dogs of war in Europe.
His decision to invade Ukraine, supported by the Russian political, military and diplomatic establishment was prepared for and planned over a long period of time. President Putin rejected intense diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis in favour of war. Indeed, President Macron of France has categorised Putin’s approach as “duplicitous.” Putin will be remembered as another monster of European history.
I have read President’s Putin long dissertation on Russian/Ukraine relations, published in July of last year. It is obvious from that piece he is an old-style Russian nationalist and imperialist.
He does not recognise the legitimacy of Ukrainian sovereignty and he wishes to impose his will, by force, on his neighbours. Putin claims that Ukrainians and Russians are family, but he has now turned the guns on his brothers and sisters. The invasion of Ukraine is the latest in a series of military adventures by President Putin and his henchmen. Chechnya, Georgia, Moldova, Syria, Crimea, Donbas, Kazakhstan, Belarus are all part of the same pattern of behaviour. Brutal military adventures across Europe have been accompanied by assassinations, poisonings and the suppression of internal dissent. At home, in Russia, arbitrary imprisonment has become commonplace.
The defence question
The invasion of Ukraine has sent shock waves around the world. The international response has been impressive on a variety of levels. Resistance by the Ukrainian army and public is stronger than Putin expected. There is evidence that some in the Russian military are questioning the invasion and many individual soldiers appear uncomfortable when challenged by Ukrainian citizens.
Despite the risk of imprisonment, there is also evidence of growing dissent within Russia. This is Putin’s war, not the war of the Russian people. It is unlikely however that President Putin will be removed from power in the short term. More likely is the danger however that he will double down on his naked military aggression as he meets resistance at home and abroad. He has already made sinister threats regarding nuclear weapons. His mindset is unlikely to change and he may prefer to go down in flames rather than a reversal of course.
The invasion of Ukraine has forced a dramatic reassessment of the threat and risk posed to Europe and the wider world by President Putin and Russia. Germany in particular has benefited from the collapse of the Soviet Union and the consequent peace dividend. However, it has become dependent on Russia for more than 50% of its gas supplies. During the last 30 years, it has also underinvested in defence. Its military capacity has been seriously eroded during the same period.
General Alfons Mas, Head of the German Army, in a frank comment last week said – “the army I have the honour of leading, is more or less empty-handed”. German Chancellor Scholz then announced a major investment programme in Germany’s military but of course, it will take time to deliver.
Irish neutrality
The tragedy in Ukraine has as strong message for Ireland and our approach to security and defence. Our geographic position and the fact that NATO provides security for Western Europe has given us the luxury of avoiding difficult choices. Effectively we have been freeloaders.
The Irish position on security and defence is no longer tenable. Ireland may not be aligned militarily but we are not politically neutral. We share a community of interest with the European Union. Our membership of the EU and our relationship with the United States is central to Ireland’s wellbeing and prosperity.
The future of the EU is also Ireland’s future. Membership of the EU brings responsibility to actively engage with the Common Security and Defence Policy of the EU. As chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, I have been engaged in discussions with other non-aligned members of the EU such as Sweden, Austria and Finland on their understanding of security and defence issues within the EU.
Now is the time that Ireland must look to our own defences. The recent report of the Commission on the Defence Forces has set the framework of that debate. The Report has set out what is required – the Defence Forces will be a joint military force capable of providing the people of Ireland with a safe and secure environment and enforcing and protecting Ireland’s sovereignty.
The report sets out what needs to be done to achieve this goal. It will involve major re-organisation of the Defence Forces and will also require significantly enhanced resources. At a minimum, our defence forces must be in a position to patrol and monitor Ireland’s airspace and our territorial waters and wider economic zone. We must also be in a position to defend ourselves against disruptive cyberattacks and misinformation campaigns aimed at destabilising our society and political system.
I intend the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, will be the forum where this report and related issues can be discussed in depth. Critical issues surrounding investment, recruitment, staff retention and career progression in the Defence Forces, can no longer be ignored or put on the long finger.
Peacekeepers
Ireland’s military has a proud record of peacekeeping across the world, and this must be maintained. Peacekeeping is a necessary and valuable contribution to security in many conflict zones.
Ireland’s capacity to participate in peacekeeping missions should not be subject to the veto of a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Russia and China affect much of Ireland’s Foreign Policy. Participation in UN peacekeeping missions should only need the consent of the government and the Dáil Eireann.
On Ukraine, US intelligence on the imminence of the Russian threat turned out to be accurate. European countries’ wishful thinking and their close economic and business ties with Russia may well have clouded their judgement. The US is now prominent in the pushback against Russian aggression. Only a few years ago former US President Donald Trump was contemplating withdrawing the US from NATO.
We live in uncertain times. Ireland must be willing to shoulder greater responsibility for our own security and defence and that of the European Union. I have learned from countries like Finland and Sweden that strong defences are the most effective security guarantees of all.
It’s important for Ireland to closely study the shifting ground on the part of the so-called neutral countries. Finland and Sweden have now been given access to all NATO meetings and briefings on Ukraine.
The invasion of Ukraine is a wake-up call for Europe, for Germany in particular, and for the wider world. It is also a wake-up call for Ireland. We must be prepared to learn from the daily tragedy in eastern Europe, and the scale of the risks and challenges the European Union must now confront.
Charles Flanagan TD is Chair of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Foreign Affairs & Defence and a former Minister in both the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Justice.
================= On the other hand ===============
Richard Boyd Barrett: Ireland must defend its neutrality
THE WORLD IS rightly horrified by the brutal invasion of Ukraine instigated by Vladimir Putin. Bloody images of wrecked cities, dead bodies, people being forced to drink out of puddles and the ensuing humanitarian and refugee crisis shows us that Putin is a warmonger, a thug and a despot. We must be unequivocal in condemning Putin’s inexcusable and murderous actions in Ukraine.
We must all extend our solidarity to the Ukrainian people and redouble our efforts to extend humanitarian aid to the people in Ukraine and refuge to those who have been forced to flee their homes in terrifying conditions.
However, it is alarming that the terrible events in Ukraine are being used by a chorus of media commentators to suggest Ireland should abandon its military neutrality or, in some cases, call nakedly for NATO membership and participation in military alliances.
Worryingly, these sentiments are also echoed by senior figures and TDs in the government, particularly, within Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.
Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney, at the Council of Foreign Affairs in New York this week, said Irish politics was changing in response to the Ukraine crisis and suggested a greater appetite for spending more on defence, greater co-operation with other EU countries and partnerships with NATO.
This follows similar comments from the Tánaiste, Leo Varadkar, who said we “need to think about greater involvement in European defence,” – a defence, of course, directly aligned with NATO through PESCO. Taoiseach, Micheál Martin echoed the same theme, saying “Neutrality is a policy issue that can change at any time.”
This is very worrying language and points to the direction that the Irish government wishes to lead us. Already, military neutrality has been substantially undermined by Ireland’s support for US imperialist adventures in the Middle East.
Over two million US soldiers have passed through Shannon airport on the way to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Now it seems that the Ukrainian invasion will be used to further undermine neutrality and justify spending billions more on arms and weapons. The clamour to do so is especially ironic coming as it does from parties that have overseen a crisis in the pay and conditions of our ordinary defence personnel for decades.
Muddied waters
People Before Profit believes it is imperative that we protect our traditional policy of military neutrality and that abandoning that policy would be absolutely the wrong response to this crisis.
Ireland’s policy of neutrality has its origins in the foundation of our state when the 1916 Rising and the revolution of 1918-21 were precisely revolts against the imperial slaughter of World War 1. James Connolly famously led the Irish Citizens Army out to the GPO under the banner “for neither King nor Kaiser”, in other words, rejecting both imperial alliances in World War 1.
Ireland should not now abandon that proud, if sullied, tradition of opposing all warmongers and empires.
The solution to Putin’s bloody warmongering in Ukraine is not to align with military alliances such as NATO, whose leading members, particularly the US and UK, have equally bloody records of warmongering in Iraq and Afghanistan – wars that claimed hundreds of thousands of innocent lives.
As we speak, NATO members, the US, UK and France arm and support the brutal dictatorship in Saudi Arabia, to conduct a war in Yemen that has claimed the lives of 377,000 people and brought 14 million people to the brink of famine.
The US and other European NATO members continue to arm, support and trade with Israel who have now been indicted by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for Apartheid, crimes against humanity, and systematic breaches of international law against the Palestinian people.
Double standards?
It is absolutely right that the Irish government have been so forthright in their condemnation of Putin’s warmongering in Ukraine. However, it demonstrates remarkable double standards that our government refuses to condemn equally the war crimes or crimes against humanity committed by the big western powers or their allies, such as Israel or Saudi, and indeed trenchantly resist calls for sanctions to be opposed on these regimes for their crimes.
The fact that Ireland is a neutral state gives us the moral credibility to speak out against all warmongering, occupation and oppression, whether it is Russia, the US, China, Israel, Saudi or anywhere else. It also makes Ireland as a country, and Irish soldiers on peace-keeping missions abroad, less of a target for military attack or terrorism.
The last thing that we need to do in the face of Putin’s warmongering in Ukraine is to encourage the idea that more militarism and arms spending is the solution, or to align with other military alliances whose leading powers have been and are guilty instigating and supporting equally horrific atrocities elsewhere in the world.
In fact, now more than ever, as we witness the disastrous consequences of Putin’s war in Ukraine, it is crucially important for Ireland as a neutral country to be a voice of opposition to all war, occupation, empire and the global arms trade.
Ireland must be the leading voice internationally for the de-escalation of conflict and for peace.
Richard Boyd Barrett is a People Before Profit TD for Dún Laoghaire in Dublin.
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Boris Johnston is not fit for purpose.
@Rúraíocht: the Tories are not fit for purpose. You really think he writes his own speeches? He has advisors and cabinet around him – they have been rubbish this past 10 years but the media have shielded then time and again.
@Peter McGlynn: there is an evil in that tory establishment. Hidden agendas with them all the time. They are clearly pursuing herd immunity with not a care for the people that are going to die
@Rúraíocht: there Bly not fit for purpose if there purpose is not to destroy the UK if that’s there plan there doing a really good job
I’m living in London right now and honestly the level of confusion is crazy. There are some people thinking everyone should try be back to work on Wednesday and others who feel it should just be manufacturing, constructions and other similar areas . He hasn’t set out exactly which industries should go back and has just provided examples.
@Aaron Tynan: was talking to someone from northern ireland last night on phone and the majority of people there are following the dublin guidance
@Aaron Tynan: I understood manufacturing & construction only . Considering all hospitality services are closed everybody else can work from home. With regards to manufacturing, most people have never stopped working as they’re in food production or pharma & engineering.
@☘: Dublin guidance? Oh yeah I forgot the republic consists of only 1 city.
@Isabel Oliveira: that was my take on it as well.. but honestly there are people not in those industries looking to go back in Wednesday now… he has basically said if it is safe to do so, do go back.
Maybe later today he will give more clarity, but it’s a mess.
@Richard: No, but that’s where the government sit and make their decisions from, geographically speaking the guidance is emanating from Dublin.
@Richard: I’m pretty sure he meant the guidance FROM Dublin rather than guidance FOR Dublin
@Richard: Now say that again without crying
@Aaron Tynan: it was crazy when he asked people not to take public transport as well . All for the sake of not asking people to wear masks . It’s asking for chaos and to leave the announcement for a Sunday night even worse.
@Richard: You are being pedantic. Obviously he means the administrative centre of the Republic of Ireland.
@Richard: I think he means the government sitting in Dublin.
This is why voters should think twice before electing populist leaders. Boris & Trump both proving they are not fit for office!
@Wreck Tangle: + Mary Loo
@A2 Poster:
Indeed, but you know the SF brigade on here would have us believe that we would be Corona free under her watch!
@Wreck Tangle: I’m not a SF voter but I don’t think it’s fair to compare Mary Lou to those two, she’s completely mainstream and establishment by comparison. Wanting a border poll or to build more houses is hardly especially radical.
The equivalent would be more like us electing Gemma or Peter Casey as taoiseach.
@Rochelle: ah here come on now it’s no fun for the lads when they can’t make up lies about Sinn Fein sure what else would they be doing?
@Wreck Tangle: so we should elect unpopular leaders who refuse to do the right thing by their employer’s!??
@Rochelle:
You mean Mary Lou who couldn’t really bring a logical budget and adopted the populist line of taxing multinationals. An action that would jeopardise thousands of jobs and even more indirect. You mean MLM who before she had even created a government, was already talking about reunification, something that no doubt pushed potential parties away. The MLM who cannot get the Unionists to play ball in the north? We would now send that to deal with UK and difficult negotiations with EU?
I am not saying that the current options are better. Reality is that Ireland has a very poor choice of politicians but SF have done nothing to prove that they are any more capable than other parties. Their history, actions and reactions under scrutiny create many indications that they would be worse.
@Wreck Tangle: Hold the view of SF being a downgrade if you wish but it’s absurd to liken policies like taxing multinationals to things like Boris advocating genocide (herd immunity) or Trump suggesting people inject themselves with bleach. Don’t elevate it to the worst examples you can think of just because you disagree with their policies.
I think people who make those sort of comparisons have no idea what an actual radical populist party could do to Ireland and how lucky we are to have mostly avoided those influences so far in Irish politics.
@Wreck Tangle: Spoken like a true Blueshirt. It took a pandemic to give Vareadkar an appetite for government. Harris who they kept hidden during the election, Now put on a pedestal by sections of the media. Martin to busy trying at best to become a part time Taoiseacht all but disappeared in the pandemic. Your answer attack Sinn Fein. Hypocrisy at it’s best.
@Rochelle: Where did I make a direct comparison?
@Donal Desmond:
I didn’t attack SF to defend other parties. I answered someone else and referred to people who believe that under SF Ireland would not have had Corona outbreak.
I agree with you. LV is a joke and he has not been a good Taoiseach. He will benefit more than most people from Corona. My initial comment was general, there is no country with a populist government that have not done well during this pandemic. My own hope is that the SF shock combined with this pandemic will make government (whoever they may be) realise that their job is to serve the people. This means delivering more and delivering policies that create a fairer society.
As for me being a blue-shirt. I was born into a working class family, I saw my parents work really hard and have very little to show for their work. I made sure that I got to university and work hard to ensure that I can achieve the standard of life I want. Should I be apologetic for that?
@Wreck Tangle: haha! With the alternative being a Jeremy Corbyn government. No thanks. I was a Labour voter prior to last GE but there was no way I was voting in that Momentum crowd. And you cant tell me they would have fared any better through this crisis.
@Wreck Tangle: You responded with “indeed” to the person that did.
@Rochelle:
Ok I’ll refrain from being agreeable from now on!
@AnnaM1980: I can tell you and will tell you. The Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn would have had adopted proper scientific advice and not just pursued the stupid behaviour of Johnson and his band of murderers (over 32,000 people they have killed so far).
@Joe Griffin: Murderers, get a grip would you. And no, you cant tell me that.
@Wreck Tangle: If you are happy with F.G. who lost the election now again being propped up again by F.F. who technically finished up one seat ahead of Sinn Fein, that is your choice. Vareadkar suddenly had an appetite for government again because of a pandemic. Failing to mention the state of a crumbling health service under his watch. S.F. or the left did not create this mess., It was F.G. kept in power by F.F. Remember when Harris threatened striking nurses with fines if they did not return to work. Hypocrisy at it’s best.
@Wreck Tangle: Apologies for calling you a blueshirt.
@AnnaM1980: with infrastructure? they probably would not have. But that’s because the Tories have been ripping it apart for 10 years. On communication and planning? My cat would have done a better job.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen the leader of a country give a more shambolic and rambling message on television. Boris had no clue what he was saying and their ‘roadmap’ looks like it was drawn on a napkin before the camera was turned on. Crazy stuff.
@Oliver Walker: I duuno, I think Trump manages quite well in this respect. Touch and go as to who is the crazier, more deluded leader.
UK policy on Covid 19 is same as brexit jump in deep end find out can we swin or drown
If you can work from home do it…. if you can’t, then go to work… the lack of common sense is more worrying than the virus
England is going to turn into one giant Petri dish for Covid at this rate. Just open the floodgates and let it rip. Great plan.
@Skipper Mac: Never thought I’d see the day that Arlene would go against the Great Union’s advice…
@Oliver Walker: abortion, same sex marriage, covid-19 restrictions – NI is only cherry picking the parts of the Union that suits them, nothing new there
Boris’ bluster and bull is much like Trumps
Makings of a clusterfu£k
The ice age is coming, the sun’s zooming in
Engines stop running, the wheat is growing thin
A nuclear era, but I have no fear
‘Cause London is drowning
I, I live by the river
@Modern Irish Dad: Tune!
@Sorcha Hackett: It really is and it’s standing the test of time.
@Modern Irish Dad: what I mean is it holds up well.
@Modern Irish Dad: one of the all time greats!
Great Britain?
@Patrick O’Brien: I’d be removing “great” in the description
Sinking feeling that it’s going to impact us ..
Its not just Johnson, when you look down that cabinet list, theres not a capable, hard-working, sympathetic, leader figure among them. One myopic Brexiter after another. The UK economy just went to hell in a handcart and the intern is in charge. The UK has been a slow motion train crash for 5 years now and its gathering debris.
@Rochey77: Nail on the head. The incumbent at 10 Downing Street was elected on one issue only, with cabinet made up of his staunchest allies. Completely out of their depth.
@Harry Corry: This is where their privileged backgrounds proves they haven a clue .
Very unprofessional. I think they should swallow their pride and use our plan of action at least it’s clear and concise.
Get Covid Done!
Up to now if you stay at home they have to pay you social security payments but if you go back to work now then you have to be vigilant which means if you catch covid 19 it’s your own fault because you didn’t try hard enough to stay safe and it’s your own fault. Win win for the government. Tax money for the time you work and they don’t have to pay you dole
British people have the leaders they voted for and deserve after their brexit fiasco
What is it with the media and obsession with BJ and Trump. Every second article. Why not compare to countries doing way better than us despite us being and island. I suggest Lieo and Mehole are doing way worse.
We should be at zero by now instead of flying and driving more people into the country .
Brits landing in Belfast and driving south for holidays needs stop. Quarantine needs made compulsory at all ports and airports.
We need an all island approach like Mary Lou keeps saying but FFG ignore.
Trump US , BJ UK, are not our issue.
Lieo and Mehole are most certainly.
Media need do their job instead of deflection..
@Gary O CONNOR: Any figures on the numbers of British holiday makers flying to Belfast and then driving south for holidays at the moment?
@Gary O CONNOR: The ONLY country that you can compare us to with any semblance of statistical comparisons is the UK. We are culturally, demographically, geographically and environmentally closest to them. Comparing us to other countries with different cultural attitudes, temperatures, humidity, geographical locations, borders etc. is statistically pointless.
@Gary O CONNOR: Just wow, I’m sure you’d have it all fixed by now if you were in charge.
Typical whinger, nothing to contribute but criticism and sniping.
@Gary O CONNOR: What is it with your obsession with people who don’t think Trump and Johnson are fit for the positions they hold? You appear on every single article on this site defending your loved ones.
OMG they need the Taiwan leadership urgently
@trebloc01: i was just thinking…….that.
@trebloc01:
Oversimplification. Taiwan has the benefit of learning from being the worst performer in SARS.
Say what you will about Leo but I’m glad I’m here instead of in the UK or USA
@Terrence Edwards: We actually have more deaths per million than the US at the moment. I think they will probably overtake us but I don’t we’re not doing as well as we could have done. Too many mistakes and inaction in the early days.
No article on the caretaker taoiseach apologising for referring to Belfast as overseas??
@Darren Carroll: oh cop on
Boris is a Baffoon but he would have had some chance of putting together a coherent government, if he hadn’t stripped out all the competent members just out of spite, because of their stance on Brexit.
So the bottom line is that are we going to keep free movement open with this crowd over there? If we are there is no chance whatsoever of defeating the corona virus.
It’s a shambollix
Some people were very critical of Leo having to retrieve a sheet of paper with the details of our emergence from lockdown from his pocket before answering questions on the details during his Late Late appearance. What’s going on in England, in particular, today, goes to show the chaos that ensues when you have people chancing their arm rather than being sure that what they’re saying is true and accurate.
I would never have voted for Leo or Simon Harris, and like everyone worldwide dealing with this virus, they’ve made mistakes, but I wouldn’t swap him for Boris or Trump for anything right now!
I cannot believe that this wasn’t intentional. To confuse and create ambiguity. If you think about it…. It was pre-recorded. The government surely has communication experts at hand to make sure these politicians are giving the correct messages. The confusion is to allow people back to work without showing a clear discrimination between people’s job roles. It can’t be complete stupidity.
People are not mindless chickens they will of course come to their own conclusions and do what suits them little by little
Hilarious , they cant even agree or communicate to a start date amongst themselves
A disaster best describes Brits response to the pandemic
have your say