The government’s plan to abolish the Triple Lock in the coming months has nothing to do with Irish defence, peacekeeping, or sovereignty and everything to do with NATO and EU military alignment, according to Gerry Rooney, Workers’ Party representative for Meath East and former General Secretary of the Permanent Defence Forces Other Ranks Representative Association.

Rooney said: “The removal of the UN element of the Triple Lock is blatantly designed to allow the government to align even more closely with NATO. They have made it clear that, even if outright membership isn’t a runner just yet, they will seek to cosy up as close as they can. Our neutrality is suffering the fate of a frog in warm water being slowly but surely brought to a boil.”

“The prospect of Irish military personnel being deployed on foreign adventures with British-, French-, and German-led forces does not sit well with the Irish people, and it has been made clear in poll after poll that we deeply value our neutrality. Should Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael have their way on the issue, we will ultimately see the working class men and women of the Defence Forces engaged in riskier military activities that have a very tenuous link to peacekeeping, just so that Irish politicians can get a pat on the head when they visit Brussels.”

“The removal of the Triple Lock, it is worth noting, has nothing to do with the defence of Ireland. Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, have deliberately allowed the Defence Forces to decline into a state of near collapse, and now claim that only integration with the EU and NATO can save us.”

“A government that, for 20 years, has been unwilling to spend €5 million or €10 million a year to pay a living wage to our soldiers, and is unable to put even two of Naval Service’s eight ships to sea, now claims to care deeply about defence and security. What they really appear to care about is pacifying their superiors in Brussels and Washington, and lining the pockets of international arms companies.”

“Any claim that this move is simply a reaction to a deadlocked UN Security Council is disingenuous, and conveniently ignores the fact that current legislation also allows for deployment abroad following a resolution of the UN General Assembly. Outside of this UN framework, what type of mission is Ireland likely to partake in? The obvious answer is those spearheaded by the EU and NATO. Ireland’s move away from this framework comes at a time when Canada and Finland are reaching understandings with China that the rules-based order should be mediated through the UN. In this vein, Ireland should retain the Triple Lock and seek UN reform to promote peacekeeping through the General Assembly, as well as to build more multilateral links worldwide.”

“If the government thinks the Triple Lock system is complicated and subject to abuse through veto, it should consider the practicalities of the EU Council process that it appears to be backing. To initiate and deploy a mission requires two separate EU Council unanimous votes involving all 27 member states. This means the process has 54 opportunities to apply the veto across the initiation process and the operational plan. This byzantine process will not lead to one single genuine peacekeeping mission being established and that the government knows this.”

“Ireland occupies a rather unique position. Our history is one of a colonised nation, rather than one of a coloniser. Combining this with the state’s long-standing policy of neutrality, we are able to act as genuine and trusted peacekeepers in places where America, Britain, and many European countries would face immediate and understandable mistrust. This is how we have contributed to world peace, and we are throwing it away if we decide to row in behind NATO.”

“If there are any Fianna Fáil backbenchers, or indeed independent government TDs, who have any reservations whatsoever on what impact this move may have on Irish neutrality and the Defence Forces, now is the time for them to either stand up or forever hold their peace.”