Tanaiste Leo Varadkar at the 1916 Annual Arbour Hill Commemoration Ceremony last month
“I do think it would be possible for us to win a referendum on joining a European defence (force) but I think that’s why it would be important for us to be a part of designing it alongside countries like Cyprus, Austria and Malta, who also don’t plan to join Nato.
“We are not members of Nato and we have no plans to join Nato, but we have never been neutral politically, we have always been on the side of democracy.
“Some people would talk about developing a European defence that is separate to Nato or almost in competition with Nato. That doesn’t make sense to me.
“It makes sense to me that there should be very close links between the European Union and any European defence and Nato – even though we may not be a member, we wouldn’t want to prevent cooperation or interoperability between any of those things.
“I think Irish people have always seen defence and security as being more than military alliances so we’re very proud of the role that we’ve played in United Nations peacekeeping around the world.”
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar. at the European People’s Party (EPP) Congress in Rotterdam.
Leo Varadkar confident he could secure a Yes vote for Ireland to join EU army (Independent.ie)