The removal of the triple lock not only further endangers Irish neutrality but could lead to Ireland’s involvement in an EU or NATO inspired war.
The real issue is whether we want to send young working-class men and women to fight new-style colonial wars’
The triple lock was introduced after the Irish people rejected the Nice referendum in June 2001. In order to encourage us to vote again, the right way, a declaration was added to the Treaty guaranteeing that no more than 12 Irish soldiers could be sent into battle zones without the permission of the government, the Dáil and the UN General Assembly.
Since that time, the world has splintered into a conflict between two global superpowers led by the US and China. As the current genocide in Palestine shows, the EU has placed itself firmly in the US camp, albeit with more crocodile tears, and will join them in future colonial-style wars.
There are already worrying signs that war clouds are gathering. The Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk claimed we are in a ‘pre-war era’. Admiral Rob Bauer, Chair of NATO’s military Committee, said ‘we are preparing for war with Russia’. The French President Emmanuel Macron has called for the sending of NATO troops into Ukraine. And even the Irish Times recently ran a headline.’ As Europe prepares for war, Ireland sticks its head in the sand’.
This context makes Michael Martin’s effort to remove the Triple Lock more worrying. Even though he is trying to package his proposal in benign terms – e.g., that it simplifies matters -, it is part of a growing trend to involve Ireland in a Western imperialist alliance in preparation for future wars.
It is also deeply hypocritical. As late as 2020, the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael programme for government stated that ‘ The Government will ensure that all overseas operations will be conducted in line with our position of military neutrality and will be subject to a triple lock of UN, Government and Dáil Éireann approval’
This position has now changed and the real agenda behind it is becoming clearer. In 2022, Michael Martin stated that ‘Ireland will not need a referendum to join NATO’. Ireland has also supported the creation of a 50,000-strong EU First Entry Force and the expansion of the EU’s military budget from €500 million from 2019-2020, to €7.95 billion from 2021-2027. Removing the triple lock is therefore part of a process of war preparation.
Aside from the ideological reasons, the government is also promoting this measure at the behest of a growing Irish arms industry. There are currently 550 firms in Ireland active in the Irish defence industry. Military equipment exports more than doubled in one year, from €42.3 million in 2019 to €108.5 million in 2020. This is the only sector of Irish life that gains from the greater talk about war,
Ireland currently has a massive housing crisis. Instead of warmongering talk we need to defend what is left of Irish neutrality and focus our efforts onto solving the housing crisis. That is why we must reject the government’; attempts to remove the triple lock.
Removing The Triple Lock Will Lead To Preparation For War
