Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-02-11
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Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central

We do not intend to be. We are not a member of NATO, fundamentally. The triple lock relates to our participation in peacekeeping missions. We want to continue the tradition of Irish participation in peacekeeping missions. It has been a very noble one. It is probably one of the defining qualities of Irish foreign policy. People accept our bona fides in the international field, whether it is military peacekeeping or in civilian peace monitoring, contributions to conflict resolution and participation in multilateral fora from the United Nations, to the African Union and European Union, but the world has changed dramatically. I know the Deputy said the Russian invasion of Ukraine was wrong. I would respectfully say it was far more than wrong. It was appalling, horrific and is having horrific consequences.
If the Deputy stands back, why should Russia have a veto on whether Irish peacekeepers participate in a peacekeeping mission or not? When I say a veto, it is very clear that Russia, geopolitically over the last two decades in particular, does not want UN peacekeeping forces in a lot of parts of the world. If the Deputy takes Niger, Mali and all those areas in the Sahel, what has the Wagner Group been doing there for quite some time and Russia? They have been facilitating coup d'états , trying to exploit the natural resources of those countries in return for protecting the elites who perpetrated a coup d'état . Is that the country that should determine whether Ireland participates in a peacekeeping mission or not?
The US has decided that the UN should not support the peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL. When I was out in UNIFIL before Christmas, a lot of members of our Army were asking straightforward questions as to where they get the experience in the future of peacekeeping and what the next theatre is for Irish troops to have experience in peacekeeping. Will the US determine that? Will China determine that? When we were on the Security Council, we wanted to connect climate security and make it a core principle. Russia vetoed it. We nearly got there, but Russia vetoed it.
In increasing times, we have been part of NATO peacekeeping missions. We have been part of European Union peacekeeping missions and we have been part of African Union-led peacekeeping missions. The key issue is the principle of peacekeeping. Why are we afraid in Dáil Éireann, with Seanad Éireann, to give ourselves the unrestricted authority to do that? We are the democratically elected people of this country. What is the problem? Do we not believe in parliamentary democracy? Parliamentary democracy is the cornerstone of one of the longest living democracies around the world, which happens to be Ireland. Maybe a bit more faith in ourselves and self-respect and self-esteem would go a long way to allay the propagandistic fears that have been articulated about this initiative.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-02-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-14T01:01:02+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-02-11