THE GOVERNMENT is exploring the possibility of opting out of European security and defence policy in an effort to make the Lisbon Treaty more palatable to the public.
But Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin has admitted that this course of action would have serious consequences for the Defence Forces, and he is personally against it.
"Irish troops have received praise across the board for the neutrality, objectivity and sensitivity with which they go about their task. It has helped our Defence Forces to modernise" he told journalists at an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Avignon, France. "We don't want to damage or undermine the capacity of the Irish Army to function as effective peacekeepers."
A decision to opt out completely from European security policy would mean that the Defence Forces may not be able to take part in EU peacekeeping missions overseas, such as the operation in Chad.
Mr Martin said isolation was no longer the way forward for countries such as Ireland, as there was an increasing interdependence between economic and security policies. "You cannot isolate the issues or categorise them as conveniently as some people would like us to do," he said.
But he added the Government had to explore all the options open to it following the public's rejection of the Lisbon Treaty in June, and this was the reason his officials visited Copenhagen last month to assess the consequences of Denmark's decision in 1992 to completely opt out of EU defence.
Another option the Government may consider is negotiating a declaration insisting that Irish people could never be conscripted into any future EU force. "Conscription as an issue isn't going to happen because of Lisbon, but the point is it raises the fact that people have concerns about the defence and military nature. So how do we deal with that is the question. Do we reassure people on conscription per se?" said Mr Martin. He added that most Irish people held a noble view of the Defence Forces' participation in EU missions.
Any proposal to opt out of EU defence is likely to be opposed by the Defence Forces.
Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea last night warned that a withdrawal from all EU military co-operation would have serious consequences for Ireland's future United Nations role. The UN is increasingly subcontracting peacekeeping missions to regional bodies, such as the EU - as has happened already in Chad.
"We are very well-respected internationally because of our peacekeeping activities. Naturally, I would not like to se anything that would diminish that," Mr O'Dea told The Irish Times.
He said that "nobody had approached" him with a proposal that Ireland should pull out of such military co-operation.
The Government's decision to explore its role in EU security and defence policy coincides with a wider EU review of strategy. At the foreign ministers' meeting in Avignon, EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana presented a paper outlining reforms to the EU's 2003 security strategy - the key document outlining the principles behind the EU's policy in the area.
The discussion paper proposes a redraft of this strategy to add climate change, energy shortages and cybercrime as new threats to the security of the EU.
Meanwhile, Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche will meet German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier today to update him on how Ireland intends to respond to its rejection of the Lisbon Treaty. He will tell a conference of German diplomats he believes the Irish people are gradually reflecting more on the possible consequences of their vote and how they might move ahead in a way that serves both their national interest and the interests of their EU partners.