Neutrality and Triple Lock: Motion [Private Members]
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-16
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Conor Sheehan (LAB), Limerick City

Tá an-áthas orm labhairt faoin rún seo anocht. Tugaim féin agus Páirtí an Lucht Oibre tacaíocht don rún seo. Táim an-bhródúil as ár dtraidisiún maidir leis an neodracht sa tír seo. Nuair a fhéachaim ar Aerfort na Sionainne agus ar an méid atá ag tarlú le blianta anuas maidir leis, ba cheart go gcuirfeadh sé náire ar an Rialtas.
It is clear that there is widespread support for our tradition of military neutrality. One need only to look at an opinion poll to see that. My concern around the triple lock does not relate so much to what this Government might do to lift the triple lock but to what any potential future government might do once we have removed the guardrails. We have seen this. We have seen a real shift towards militarism in the European Union. I would almost describe there being permanent fear-driven rhetoric, particularly from the Commission and the Commission President. As a party, we are deeply committed to our military neutrality. We have never wavered over that. As far back as 2002, the Labour Party proposed wording on a constitutional amendment to enshrine neutrality in our Constitution.
As the motion before us states, the world of the 2020s is less stable, more violent and much more unpredictable than we have seen in any of our lifetimes. We are all too familiar with that reality. We can look at the brutal and imperialistic invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the genocidal assault on Gaza by Israel, the horrific civil war and the illegal and nonsensical attacks on Iran by America and Israel. It was not lost on me last Saturday when the American President was here that some of the people who frequently, and quite rightly, stand up in this House and complain about diesel costing more than €2 per litre lined up early last Saturday morning to welcome the man who is the cause of diesel costing more than €2 per litre.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-16/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-16