TD for Wicklow-Wexford Malcolm Byrne has said that the Government will continue take our defence and security policy seriously while preserving our strongly held values of military neutrality.
He said: “The Triple Lock effectively allows Security Council members including Russia to bind Ireland’s hands in its international engagement.
“It means that our participation in overseas peacekeeping operations, involving the deployment of over 12 personnel, can effectively be taken out of our hands by any one of the five UN Security Council members use of, of threat of the use of, a veto.
“The UN Security Council is increasingly fragmented, dysfunctional and contested and which has not approved a new peacekeeping mission in almost a decade.
“I welcome the strong commitment in the Programme for Government to preserve and protect Ireland’s policy of active military neutrality but also to review our security policy and mechanisms.
“I strongly value our military neutrality while recognising we are not politically neutral.
“We need to continue to engage with international partners, we can’t be beholden to an increasingly dysfunctional UN Security Council and we must take security and defence seriously while upholding our commitments to human rights, democracy and the rule of law.”
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