Mission Creep

at

This afternoon.

Dail Eireann, Dublin 2.

Via RTÉ News:

The Dáil has heard the Irish Republic is under attack from those – including the Government – who want to undermine its neutrality, with Solidarity-People Before Profit warning that the Ukraine crisis is being used to push such “militarisation“.

Solidary-PBP today moved the Thirty Ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Neutrality) Bill, which proposes a referendum to provide a constitutional guarantee of Ireland’s neutrality.

The party’s TD for Dún Laoghaire Richard Boyd Barrett said many people believe that neutrality already has such a guarantee, as it has such “long-standing and overwhelming” support.

He also accused the Government of being “dishonest and misleading” in its opposition to the bill, which will be voted on this evening.

“Ireland’s neutrality and the struggle for an independent Irish Republic are one and the same thing”, he said, and warned that moves against neutrality amount to “a betrayal of the Republic”.

Meanwhile…

Mr Coveney warned that the bill before the House could constrain the Government’s ability to take part in peace-keeping missions, particularly UN missions “with a peace-enforcement (or Chapter 7) mandate”.

It could “neutralise the ability of the Irish Defence Forces to operate overseas”, he said, and even “prevent the provision of non-lethal equipment”, including to Ukraine, through the European Peace Facility.

“To be blunt, it could prevent us from putting our money where our mouth was”, Mr Coveney cautioned.

Ukraine crisis used to push Irish ‘militarisation’, says PBP-Solidarity (RTE)

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16 thoughts on “Mission Creep

  1. SOQ

    “To be blunt, it could prevent us from putting YOUR money where our mouth was”, Mr Coveney cautioned.

    There is a lot of typos on this site today?

    1. Chuckenstein

      Never mind ‘your local government TD’s…’. Plurals seem to confuse a lot of people these days (day’s?!).

      1. K.Cavan

        Don’t even mention the fact that you have central government TDs & Local Government Councillors.
        I just did but I think I got away with it.

  2. Broadbag

    “To be blunt, it could prevent us from putting our money where our mouth was”, Mr Coveney cautioned.

    He’s utterly obsessed with throwing more money down the drain in the direction of defence spending…someone needs to check out if he or any close contacts stand to benefit or what is the real angle here?

    1. K.Cavan

      The Irish Army is unlikely to ever shoot any large numbers of people that aren’t Irish citizens. The last few Davos Conspiracy Meetings have devoted a large amount of time debating how to deal with “large numbers of angry people”.
      There’s a clue as to what’s coming.

  3. Dave

    Is Coveney going to put on a uniform? No ! Why would we !! It took us 800 yrs to get rid of g to he brits from 26 counties

  4. K.Cavan

    Coveney is Our Man in Davos, that’s where he’s coming from but I have to admit it’s good to see that Solidarity-PBP aren’t completely useless & subject to US Corporate control, even if they’ve absorbed far too much of what Corporate America pushes & defines as “Left-wing”.

  5. Dinkum

    We need to get out of the EU
    I think aa seat on the UN Security Council has gone to their heads
    We are neutral full stop and this country was founded on that principal

    1. Fearganainm

      “We are neutral full stop and this country was founded on that principal (sic)”

      Not really. De Valera’s introduction of something approaching a Monroe doctrine was floated as a sop to please the English. ‘Independence’ tied to a promise not to make treaties with other foreign powers.

      That’s not really a native foreign policy at all.

    2. Praetorian

      No…we’re not neutral…that’s a narrative that suits whatever Govt’ is sitting to reduce spending on the Defence Forces.
      I served in Somalia on Irelands first peace ‘enforcement’ mission…that mission was followed by enforcement missions in Liberia,Chad,East Timor and currently there’s a Ranger section operating on the ground in Mali.

    1. Dinkum

      I cannot stand him but he is dead right .
      The war between Ukraine and Russia is being used to justify a EU army and our neutrality is sacrosanct
      Like the right to water the right to a roof over our heads the right to dignity our right to stay neutral cannot be removed by politicians
      The other two I mentioned are not enshrined in our constitution .

  6. White Dove

    One of the funniest things on Irish twitter over the past three weeks has been the lads taking advantage of the odd minute off ‘Dad’ duty to argue for NATO membership and tanks for the Defence forces. Generation X at its best.

    Let’s hope they’re only an amusing minority…

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