Dia dhaoibh a chairde, Is mise Pádraig O Maonaigh.
I'm here today to support the campaign to protect and also recover the integrity of Irish Neutrality.
One very proud element of our National identity has always been our Military Neutrality.
As Roger Casement once put it " Ireland has wronged no man, has injured no land, has sought no dominion over others".
This is the position of the people and must be preserved.
I wish to offer our heartfelt solidarity to victims of war across the world regardless of where they are.
We do not believe in hierarchy of victims. We stand in solidarity with people in Libya, Yemen and Palestine as we do Donbass or Kyiev.
We also stand in solidarity with all other antiwar movements.
As a Neutral nation we should be using our Neutrality as a strength to offer what assistance we can provide in supporting a diplomatic resolution to conflicts rather than taking sides in a proxy geopolitical war between superpowers as we are in relation to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Sadly, Ireland's Neutrality has been compromised for some time.
Successive Irish governments have decided to provide logistical support through Shannon airport which has resulted in the enabling of death and destruction to millions in the Middle East.
This blood is on the hands of those in government and not the Irish people who never mandated this support.
In 2017 we seen Ireland integrate into PESCO which is styled as a European defensive force but there are genuine fears that just like the EEC it may become a different animal later and an EU army.
Once again there was no democratic input sought or gained from the Irish electorate to enter PESCO.
If we had any doubts of the intentions of those currently in power in this country they've been cleared up in recent times.
Taoiseach, Mícheál Martin recently stated Ireland is militarily neutral but not politically. He has also touted the idea of a citizens assembly to completely review our position on Neutrality despite a recent survey by Ipsos, indicating only 24% support for any change to our Neutrality.
Tanaiste Leo Varadkar recently stated in relation to the Ukrainian and Russian conflict, Ireland is not neutral at all.
Clearly these people see themselves as rulers of the people and not representatives of the people.
Now this week we have seen the Secretary General of NATO express his open invite to see Ireland apply to join NATO.
For centuries generations of Irish leaders sought to achieve Irish Independence and in doing so sought to remove the gun from Irish politics.
It seems the leadership of the political establishment in Leinster house is intent on restoring the gun to Irish politics, not least the Minister for Defence who has grand plans for increased military spending at a time of extreme difficulty for many ordinary people just making ends meet.
At this point in our history nearly a quarter of a century on from the Good Friday Agreement we should be moving towards the total demilitarisation of the country which includes the remaining infrastructure of British forces in the Northern part of the country.
Instead we see an increased militarization on our shores in the form of NATO warships from Britain and Canada and who knows who's next.
We live in very serious times. There is a higher possibility now than at any time in recent history of an escalation of war between nuclear armies so its more important than ever that we preserve our Neutrality and use it to oppose all wars.
We should call out the war mongers without bias.
Go raibh maith agat.
⏯Pádraig O Maonaigh is an anti-war activist.
There can be no neutrality when it comes to an unprovoked invasion of a independent democratic nation such as Ukraine by a kleptocratic and imperialist regime such as Putin's Russia. There can be no neutrality between the values of liberal democracy and those of autocracy which is the crucible of the Ukrainian conflict.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of neutrality needs tied down here. The desire to stay out of military alliances should be the focus. To suggest that Irish society should be neutral when Russia invades Ukraine is how neutrality should be maintained is ethically dubious and strategically worthless. It is on a par with arguing that Ireland should be neutral when Israel bombs Gaza. Well, it should not - it should stand with the bombed not the bombers. That does not mean that in order to hold to that pro-bombed / anti-bomber stance Irish society has to rush off and join some figurative military alliance set up by the Saudis.
ReplyDeleteI think the author is right - we are living very in dangerous times. Being unclear about what neutrality should actually mean as part of a focused campaign to maintain it or reassert it does not make the world any less dangerous.
Ireland must be militarily Neutral.
ReplyDeleteIreland must reserve political Neutrality long enough to establish the facts and should then use its influence to both support victims and promote diplomacy and hold the aggressor to account internationally.
Irish Military Neutrality is bigger than just the Ukraine conflict, we've been complicit via government for many years in death and destruction through Shannon. Its been the government of a Liberal democracy which has carried out that crime on often innocent civilians. Liberal democracy bombs are no less deadly.
The same government is instrumental in current NATO policy which has contributed greatly to the escalation between Russia and Ukraine. Do we believe that this is outright Russian imperialism?If it were that simple we would be correct in politically opposing such aggression but having no military role or military logistical support.
This is probably the defining question for opinion on this conflict, is it Russian expansion or Russian response to what they perceive as an existential threat by NATO members notably the US.
Ireland should stand in solidarity with all victims as stated, this should include whatever proportional humanitarian support we can offer.
I'm unsure why Ireland does so little for other crisis regions but jumped all over this one. Maybe its something to do with our friendships with EU countries and major members of NATO.
If we had the courage to tackle Israel over the conflict in Palestine we could have more confidence in FF and FG Governments to take the right position politically.
A Neutral nation can be a huge contributor to the common good by playing the facilitator role in diplomatic resolution. Our seat on the UN security Council had or has the potential for this influence.
If we are overtly pro regime rather than pro peace we will not be a trusted broker in diplomacy as the bias is clear. Ireland has been extremely biased towards the Ukraine government despite us knowing of the Far right elements within their military makeup and the conflicts internally within Ukraine for some time and regions which seek independence.
Ireland facilitating NATO warships is not military Neutrality.
Paddy
Being militarily neutral does not prohibit Ireland politically opposing the aggressor and standing up in defence of those being attacked.
DeleteIf Ireland is to wait on the supposed facts - which will always be denied by the aggressor - the same demand will be made of it when the US bombs Libya, Iraq, and when Israel bombs Gaza. I would pay no heed to such calls when Israel next invades Gaza or perpetrates another of its frequent war crimes.
Liberal Democracy bombs used for aggressive purposes are every bit as bad as the bombs of others when used for aggressive purposes. This is why there is a glaring need to oppose being absorbed into NATO.
Russia is an aggressive capitalist power pursuing the same regime change as the Western capitalist powers. It might not be imperialist in the way that Lenin defined imperialism but non-Leninists are under no obligation to restrict the use of the term just to be faithful to Lenin. It seeks hegemony in the region which in the Maoist understanding of the term Hegemonism allows for any meaningful, ethical or strategically useful differentiation from imperialism.
Existential threat? Seriously doubt it - the Russian nuclear arsenal guarantees it against a threat to its existence. NATO did very little to get Ukraine into its tent. Probably messed with the Ukrainians more than it did with the Russians.
But, the anti-War movement should not kid itself either that the West did not seek to humiliate Russia and isolate it in a bid to reinforce a unipolar world order with it at the top. The best work on this that I have read is Everyone Loses: The Ukraine Crisis and the Ruinous Contest for Post-Soviet - Eurasia. At the same time the authors show the coercive diplomacy and characteristic bullying used by Russia to control the countries within its so called sphere of influence. An anti-war movement can't really be anti-war if it fails to oppose all wars of aggression, this one having being defined by Chomsky as the supreme international crime.
If the anti-war movement fails to oppose the Russian attack on Ukraine, it is hardly in a position to criticise the Dublin government for not opposing Israel vigorously enough.
The far right problem referred to in the article is being amplified by the invasion, as is the NATO problem. There are enough far right and nationalist forces at play within the Russian camp. NATO is becoming more popular as a result of the war when it has no right to such popularity - gained on false pretences. Some of the Guardian long reads will help dispel any illusions about NATO being benign or exclusively defensive. Putin, unfortunately, has given it a makeover which will make the opposition to Ireland joining it harder. I am pessimistic about the outcome.