Ireland opens debate on the future of military neutrality

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Ireland needs to have an ‘open and honest’ debate about its military neutrality and the possibility of joining NATO, Foreign Minister Micheál Martin said ahead of a public forum on the issue next month.

The war in Ukraine has raised questions about the island nation’s security in the face of 21st century threats, including cybersecurity and attacks on undersea cables.

“We will discuss what our current policy of military neutrality means, whether it fits the current global security environment, and whether we need to more clearly define what we mean by military neutrality,” Martin said. Dáil Parliament on Thursday.

“I hope the forum will provide a space to discuss other security policy choices that may exist for our island, as well as our responsibilities to other partners,” he said.

But Martin, who is also Ireland’s Defense Minister, stressed that this was not a “simplistic binary choice. Remaining as we are today, or immediately seeking to join a military alliance such as NATO, are not the only options”.

Ireland’s military neutrality predates World War II and is enshrined in its constitution. It is defense spending is a fraction of that of EU peers.

But John O’Brennan, professor of European politics at Maynooth University, said a Russian ransomware attack on Ireland’s national health service in 2021 and incursions by Russian ships into Irish waters when they suspected that they were mapping infrastructure, meant that Ireland would have to re-examine its ‘ostrich mentality’.

Ireland has convened citizens’ assemblies in the past to discuss other major constitutional changes, including ending the abortion ban.

But in this case, the government has opted for a consultative forum involving 1,000 citizens, experts, academics and service personnel who will meet from June 22 to 27 in Cork, Galway and Dublin.

Its independent chairman will be Louise Richardsonformer vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, who will present a report to Martin after which he will decide whether or not to recommend policy changes to the cabinet.

Experts from Norway, a NATO member which, like Ireland, has a long history of international peacebuilding operations, as well as from Finland, which was allowed to join NATO, and from Sweden, which wishes to join. Switzerland, long neutral, will be invited to speak.

Martin said it was time to look at the so-called ‘triple lock’ mechanism – the need for the approval of the Irish government and parliament, as well as a UN mandate, before more than 12 servicemen can be deployed abroad.

He also pointed out that Ireland’s long-held belief that its location on the periphery of Europe protected it was being challenged in an age of globalisation.

“We can no longer rely on our geographic isolation for our security, nor believe that we can insulate ourselves from world events,” Martin said.

Ireland is home to nine of the world’s top 10 technology and communications companies with ‘particular vulnerabilities’ due to its position as a ‘full point’ in transatlantic undersea cables which could have ‘devastating consequences’ for Ireland. Ireland and its partners in the event of an attack, he said.

“Since the attacks of the North stream energy pipelines in the Baltic Sea in September 2022, we cannot ignore the particular vulnerabilities posed to energy and communications infrastructure, across Europe, and more particularly in the waters of the North Atlantic near our shores,” said he declared.

Ireland is currently discussing a “possible engagement” with a new critical underwater infrastructure coordination cell at NATO, a Foreign Office spokesman has said.