Defence Matters: Statements
Seanad Éireann — 2026-02-25
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Tom Clonan (IND), University of Dublin

The other thing is the Minister spoke about peacekeeping. Does the Minister think there will be a peacekeeping mission in our lifetime? I tell her now there will not be because that era, the Cold War era of classic peacekeeping Chapter VI missions, is over. That is why the UN Security Council put an end to the UNIFIL mandate in Lebanon. I heard Members of this House ask whether Irish soldiers could not stay on? If Irish soldiers stay on without a UN Security Council mandate they will be slaughtered either by Hezbollah or the Israelis. There is so much misinformed, ill informed conversation and discussion about what this means. What there will be is peace enforcement missions, that is, Chapter VIIs, coalitions of the willing, stabilisation forces. For example, the one that is mooted for Gaza will be an international military force to guarantee security, most likely led by a Muslim country. Perhaps it will be Türkiye or Sunni Muslims, like the Gazans. Their mission will be to disarm Hamas. That will be a fighting mission. Does the Minister want to send Irish troops there?

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-02-25/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:41+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-25