Defence and Neutrality: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-20
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Brian Stanley (IND), Laois

That is okay.
The whole issue of Irish neutrality has been central to our sovereignty as a State. As a member of the national defence and security committee, I am more concerned about what is happening now then I was in the past.
Despite being a small country, our neutrality has enabled Ireland to play a positive role in international affairs from the 1950s and 1960s to the present day. The Defence (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1960 encompassed neutrality and the requirement known as the triple lock, which means the Defence Forces cannot be deployed overseas without the authorisation of the UN, the Government and the Dáil. The triple lock has been central to neutrality, despite denials from the Government. The failure of the first referendums on the Nice and Lisbon treaties showed how important it is to the Irish people. Initially, they were not passed due to concerns about neutrality. To assuage those concerns, the triple lock and neutrality were enshrined in solemn national declarations that were attached to both treaties and they were only successful on the second occasion because of that.
Any move by the Government to abolish or undermine those commitments is a denial of democracy and, I believe, is open to a legal challenge. On top of that, I say to Deputy Murnane O'Connor as a Fianna Fáil Minister of State that successive opinion polls have demonstrated that the vast majority of Irish people, despite all the propaganda that is being shoved down their necks, support retaining the policy of neutrality. The policy of neutrality does not inhibit or stop the Government or State from increasing the capacity and capabilities of the Defence Forces, or from modernising them. The triple lock does not restrict the number of Defence Forces personnel that can be deployed overseas, despite propaganda to the contrary, for the purposes of rescue and humanitarian or emergency missions without a UN mandate. The Minister confirmed that publicly in the committee to me recently.
I turn to the issue of the United Nations. There has been a lot of misinformation suggesting that only the Security Council can veto peacekeeping missions. Of course, the General Assembly can do it as well and there is precedent here. Ireland would not have got a rotating seat on the Security Council six or seven years ago but for the fact we are neutral. One of the lobbying points to convince developing countries to support us at the General Assembly was exactly the fact we were neutral. I remember being told that when going to Geneva with a Fianna Fáil TD and a Fine Gael TD.
A false impression has been created by the militarists in the media and the Government parties about the Security Council deadlock. It is not permanently deadlocked. Between 2020 and 2024, 264 resolutions out of a total of 284 were passed with no veto being exercised.
In relation to the restrictions on more than 12 members, they do not apply in the cases of humanitarian disaster, rescue or emergency mission, etc. There are 11 active peacekeeping missions - including one in Kosovo, which members of the committee will be visiting in a few weeks' time - where Irish peacekeepers are. Only one has been vetoed by the UN Security Council. That was proposed in 1999 for Macedonia and was vetoed by China over a dispute to do with Taiwan. Ireland has been participating since 1958 in peacekeeping missions and Irish troops and peacekeepers have been held in high regard.
It is appropriate that I raise the issue of the Fianna Fáil position. It is not my primary concern. The main reason I am concerned about neutrality is that, as a left republican, I find what is happening scandalous. Grassroots people in Fianna Fáil are saying this to me. The Minister of State lives in Laois, the same as I do, and I am sure she is hearing it. Éamon Ó Cuív, former Fianna Fáil Minister, said at the weekend it is interesting we have a President, Catherine Connolly, who got elected on her positions on neutrality, the triple lock, the North and an teanga Gaeilge.
He said they used to be Fianna Fáil's core policies. That is what he said. Deputy Willie O'Dea, no lesser a figure than a former Minister for Defence, has been writing about the possibility of scraping the triple lock on neutrality. He said that Fianna Fáil abandoning its support for the United Nations is a Fine Gael doctrine, not a Fianna Fáil one. That is not Brian Stanley saying it but it is Deputy Willie O'Dea.
I want go back to the Lisbon and Nice treaties. Successive commitments were given by government at the time. Solemn national commitments were given. Solemn national declarations were enshrined and attached to both treaties. On the first occasion, those two treaties failed to get past the electorate in this State because of concerns over neutrality. They were rejected on the first occasion. Neutrality, the triple lock and UN approval for peacekeeping missions were central to that.
It is worthwhile quoting those declarations again. The following declaration was attached to the Nice treaty. It states that Ireland was not bound by any mutual defence commitment and that
The Government of Ireland have made a firm commitment to the people of Ireland, solemnized in this Declaration, that a referendum will be held in Ireland on the adoption of any such decision and on any future Treaty which would involve Ireland departing from its traditional policy of military neutrality.
It also states that deployment of Irish Defence Forces overseas requires the authorisation of the operation by the Security Council or the General Assembly of the United Nations, the agreement of the Government and the approval of Dáil Éireann, in accordance with Irish law. That is what the Fianna Fáil Government put into it at the time.
The Treaty of Lisbon states that in line with its traditional policy of military neutrality, Ireland is not bound by any mutual defence commitment but, of course, we are abolishing the triple lock to be part of a regional military alliance. It also refers to the adoption of any such decision applicable to Ireland and states that this requirement will not be affected should Ireland ratify the Treaty of Lisbon. It goes on the reiterate, as in the case of the Nice treaty, that the authorisation of the UN Security Council and General Assembly, the Dáil and the Government are required in accordance with Irish law. They are two solemn national declarations. They were not just made by government but by the Irish people and on behalf of the Irish people.
Are we going to uphold them? We hear the word "sovereignty" being bandied about and that we need to get rid of the triple lock because it will make us more sovereign but they were sovereign decisions of the people. Are Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael going to trample over that? The Government talks about it but these were sovereign decisions. Were Micheál Martin and his fellow Fianna Fáil Ministers just kidding us on two occasions in the noughties? Were they just codding the electorate?
I remember campaigning during those referendums on both treaties. Successive opinion polls have clearly demonstrated that the majority of people support neutrality. Is the Government going to turn democracy and the will of the people on its head? That is the question for Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.
The Government will deny that a referendum is needed to abolish the triple lock. I am asking it to respect the will of the people and to put its proposal to the people if it is going to abolish the triple lock. The Government's proposal will shred the triple lock and shred neutrality. If it has any respect for the electorate, it will do that.
There is also the denial of the fact that the triple lock and neutrality are linked. The Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael spokespersons continue to deny this but I remind them that if Irish troops were deployed on a mission as part of a regional force under the command of other countries, particularly larger countries like Germany, without UN Security Council or General Assembly approval, then they could find themselves in a combat situation possibly in eastern Ukraine against Russia and so on. Of course, if they become embroiled in military combat, they are exposed to attack. Those people who have served overseas and have been involved in some of this will always say that after the first military engagement, no one can predict what is going to happen when a battalion or regiment of troops are deployed. It is unpredictable.
The key message here is that the Government is getting ready to abandon multilateralism and resolving disputes under the UN through dialogue and diplomacy. The argument about the changed world order is another great one that is pulled out. This has been trotted out by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael as justification for getting rid of the triple lock as not being fit for purpose. What does this mean? Does it mean that the Government does not believe in the UN? Is the UN not fit for purpose and should we just get rid of it?
Of course, the UN needs to be upgraded and reformed. There are also scare stories about Russian advances. The Russians have not got as far as Kharkiv yet. We have not seen any evidence of them wanting to invade Dublin just yet, and I do not foresee it any time in the near future. Four drones were flown near Howth Head on the flight path to Dublin Airport as part of the conditioning process to excite people and worry people, so we would abandon neutrality.
There is talk that due to the level of international conflict, we should ditch the UN and join with the militarists in Europe headed by Germany. It is nonsense. We should instead be adding to efforts to enhance the UN and work with other non-aligned states to reform it. We should work with others to re-establish the primacy of multilateralism for resolving disputes.
The triple lock was central to the Defence (Amendment) Act 1960, which was brought in by a Fianna Fáil Minister. That was at the height of the Cold War, so it is important that neutrality and the triple lock are maintained.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-20/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:47+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-20