Defence Forces
Dail Éireann — 2022-03-10
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Simon Coveney (FG), Cork South-Central

Neutrality and military non-alignment to me mean that Ireland decides when and where we intervene, who we partner with, and what side we take on debates and in conflicts and so on. We decide and we are not tied into those positions by alliances we have signed up to. That is what non-alignment and military neutrality is for me. On the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we are not neutral. We have made it very clear we are taking sides here, from a humanitarian point of view and from a military support point of view, to allow Ukrainians to defend themselves, as best we can. Ireland is making a modest contribution towards those efforts. It is important to put some of those issues on the record.
I will come back to the other points.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2022-03-10/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:50:15+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-03-10