The Government has agreed to proceed with the Defence Amendment Bill, which amends the triple lock – the legal requirement for UN approval in advance of the deployment of Irish troops on peacekeeping missions overseas.
The Bill will face strong criticism from Opposition parties and campaigning groups who characterise the change as an erosion of neutrality and a breach of faith with voters persuaded to support EU constitutional change in the Nice and Lisbon treaty referendums.
The triple lock, triggered whenever more than 12 Defence Forces members are deployed outside the State as part of an international force, requires sanction by three bodies: the United Nations, the Government and the Dáil. Though dating back 65 years, it only acquired its name during those referendums. Its removal was included in the programme for government.
Due to deadlock between permanent Security Council members, no new peacekeeping mission has been sanctioned since 2014, nor does any seem likely. The Government argues that the UN mandate requirement effectively gives Russia, China and the US a veto on Irish troop deployments. That is indisputable.The Bill will also raise to 50 the number of troops that may be deployed abroad before a Dáil vote is required.
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The Government has rejected an Oireachtas committee recommendation for a formal legal review before troops are sent abroad, though it is considering an annual review of missions.
The Bill seems set to provoke an energetic – and necessary – debate. But the idea of ceding national sovereignty on this matter to Russia, China and the US in order to preserve neutrality seems counter-intuitive. And the fact that contemporary geopolitical realities effectively make it impossible for Ireland to participate in new peacekeeping operations is no cause for celebration.
It is unclear what effect the change may have, but any dramatic shift appears unlikely. Polls consistently show voters are highly protective of Ireland’s military neutrality, and any government would be wary of deployments characterised as abandoning that tradition.
Yet the escalating Nato crisis and ominous signs that the transatlantic security order protecting Europe for 80 years may be ending mean Ireland faces profound new questions. Chief among these is the country’s commitment to its own defence within a broader European framework. Debates over overseas deployments will remain theoretical while the State lacks basic capability to patrol its own airspace and seas.
If the Bill passes, as seems almost certain, decisions on future deployments will rest with the elected representatives of the Irish people. That seems appropriate at a time when the international order is increasingly in flux.
