Pringle: Neutrality is under threat by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens

By Thomas Pringle
Updated: 30th May 2024

Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, said neutrality is under threat by Fine Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens, saying, “There has never been a more important time to protect and preserve Irish neutrality”.

Addressing the Dáil, Deputy Pringle said: “It is incredible to see the significant u-turn that all three government parties have taken in their views on neutrality.

“Ten years ago, Micheál Martin described Fine Gael’s attempt to undermine the triple lock as ‘an out of touch ideological obsession on the part of Fine Gael’, so now it must be an out of touch ideological obsession on the part of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael and the Greens, and now he is actively trying to do away with the triple lock as Minister for Defence.

“It is not only surprising, but disingenuous to voters who were told by government parties and in the Programme for Government that overseas operations will be ‘subject to a triple lock of UN, Government and Dáil Éireann approval’.

“Minister Martin has made it very clear in recent weeks however, that the new Defence Bill will seek to get rid of the triple lock, openly contradicting commitments he made to the Irish public four years ago,” he said.

The deputy was speaking in support of the People Before Profit-Solidarity Motion re Neutrality and the Triple Lock.

The deputy said: “There is no doubt that neutrality is now under threat by Fine Fáil, Fine Gael and the Greens. They are using every opportunity to undermine neutrality and hoodwink the public into agreeing to pieces that are eroding our neutrality bit by bit until there is nothing left.”

He said: “It will get to a stage in a few years’ time when we end up in the middle of a war, wondering how we got here. We need to actively ensure that we don’t find ourselves sleepwalking into a situation that nobody wanted or asked for.”

The deputy said: “Neutrality is essential in ensuring peaceful resolution of disputes across the globe. We could and should be playing a significant role in facilitating this. We should not be taking direction from Europe, who has no interest in peace and progress and who only wishes to conform to German and French military policy.

“We have nothing to add in terms of military policy or military might. What we do have is a longstanding and well-respected neutral stance over the years and an honourable role that we could and should expand on.”

Deputy Pringle said: “In the government’s amendment to this motion it states that ‘under the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Orders 1973 and 1989, it is expressly prohibited for civil aircraft to carry munitions of war in Ireland without an exemption to do so by the Minister for Transport’. Sounds very good. However, inspections of aircraft are supposed to take place to ensure that regulations are being followed and there is no record of a single inspection being carried out in Ireland since 2020.”

He said: “The government’s amendment goes on to say that the process for granting exemptions is ‘robust and includes advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs in respect of international humanitarian law and Ireland’s international obligations’. How can the Minister stand by this while over 1000 such exemptions were granted in 2023 without a single inspection. Most of these exemptions are granted to the United States and Germany, two countries that we know are actively arming states such as Israel. There is absolutely no record or oversight of items that are being carried on aircraft coming through Ireland.

“This is outrageous and the government stating that we somehow have a ‘robust’ process is just laughable. It might be robust and it might be a good process but the only way you can prove that is by doing inspections.”