Tnaiste strongly defends neutrality debates following criticism from President The Irish Times

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Tnaiste Michel Martin defended the upcoming debates on government neutrality and said it would be a fundamental mistake to shy away from a review of Ireland’s defense policy.

It comes after claims by President Michael D Higgins that Ireland is drifting towards NATO. The comments have embroiled the president in further political controversy, with a number of government officials criticizing him on Sunday.

Fine Gael Minister of State Neale Richmond said the chairman had come close to crossing the line in terms of authority to make such comments, while Fine Gael TD and former Foreign Secretary Charlie Flanagan l accused of trying to shape government policy against a backdrop of a strong tradition that presidents do not challenge government policy.

In a lengthy statement on Sunday, Mr Martin, the Foreign Secretary, said the government had no intention of changing Ireland’s policy of military neutrality.

Since Russia’s brutal and illegal invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which flagrantly violated the Charter of the United Nations and international law and fundamentally altered the European security environment, every country in Europe has examined and reviewed its foreign, security and defense policies.

Ireland is no different. Not doing it or doing it behind closed doors would have been a fundamental mistake and an abrogation of responsibility.

Ireland has always taken multilateralism seriously and wants to see a strong and effective UN. In this context, we have a responsibility to hold Russia to account and to address the implications of its actions for the rules-based international system.

It is a fundamental duty of the government to deal with the difficult global situation as it is today, Martin said.

The Fianna Fil leader also said the upcoming consultative forum is not a binary discussion on neutrality and was never meant to be.

The government has made it clear that it has no intention of changing Ireland’s policy of military neutrality.

In an interview with the Business Post, ahead of the start of a series of government-announced public consultations on defense policy and neutrality, Mr Higgins said abandoning self-esteem from our political stranger bothers me.

Ireland’s foreign policy was a policy of positive neutrality, and it can be defined very simply as Ireland’s right to belong to any group it chooses in relation to non-militarist international policy. If you interfere with this, there is no difference between you and Lithuania and Latvia. .

Both of these countries were members of NATO. This is the fire people are playing with, Mr Higgins told the newspaper.

The former TD Labor Party, which for decades has been a vocal critic of US foreign policy, said the most dangerous moment in foreign policy formulation is when you drift off course and don’t know what you’re doing. I would describe our current position as a drift.

There is a long tradition among presidents of not commenting on government policy or publicly criticizing the government.

In an interview with the Business Post, Mr Higgins also highlighted the makeup of the forum’s panels saying they include admirals, generals, air force, the rest as well as former neutrals who join. now NATO.

In his statement this morning, Mr. Martin defended the panelists and said that they came from very diverse backgrounds and had varied expertise and experience, including in the field of peacekeeping, peacebuilding, arms control, disarmament and conflict resolution at the international level, as well as in the areas of cybersecurity, disinformation, maritime security and critical infrastructure.

The forum will meet in Cork, Galway and Dublin from next Thursday.

There were concerns in government circles at the highest level for several days before the interview was published.

Speaking to The Irish Times, Fine Gael TD and former defense minister Charlie Flanagan sharply criticized Mr Higgins.

I am a fan of President Higgins and have been. I strongly campaigned for him during the last presidential election, but I do not agree with him. I believe he tries to shape government policy in the context of a strong tradition that presidents do not challenge government policy.

Second, the timing of his statements seems to me to call into question the series of public consultative forums planned by the government starting next week. Thirdly, it creates a kind of straw man in NATO in that no political party that I know of is urging Ireland to join NATO. It seems to break solidarity or run counter to solidarity with Ukraine. February 24, 2022 was the day Russia invaded Ukraine. It was September 11 in Europe. The continuation of the war of aggression is a wake-up call for all who cherish the democratic values ​​of the rule of law.

We cannot remain silent in word or deed on the daily war crimes perpetrated by Russia in Europe. It is not a reality that defense across Europe is at the top of the political agenda. In this regard, Ireland cannot remain silent.

Minister of State for Fine Gael Affairs Neale Richmond said Mr Higgins was certainly going close to the line in overstepping his authority with the comments. When I read the reports this morning I was a bit disappointed, but now I’ve come full circle, we want people to engage in this advisory forum. Let’s have this debate, let’s have this discussion.

Asked on RT’s The Week in Politics if he crossed the line, Mr Richmond replied: I don’t think so, but he went up there.

[ Irish Times poll: Voters want to keep neutrality but improve Irelands military capacity ]

Question from an Irish Times/Ipsos poll on Irish neutrality. Graphic: Paul Scott

Independent Senator Gerry Craughwell, a former member of the Defense Force, said Mr Higgins had gone far beyond his authorized role in making the comments.

Mr Craughwell also criticized Mr Higgins for raising the question of whether to invest in the Defense Force before putting in place guarantees on reform.

It’s really something when the [President of Ireland] expresses reservations about investments in [the Defence Forces]. It seems he is happy as Commander-in-Chief to endanger the lives of those who serve. His comments are outrageous, Mr Craughwell said.

Speaking about the abuses within the organization exposed by the group Women of Honor, Mr Higgins said he was absolutely heartbroken that people had to wait for justice.

The government is currently facing criticism from women of honor over the nature of a planned commission of inquiry into abuses and whether the inquiry will have the status of a public tribunal at full share.

An Irish Times/Ipsos opinion poll released on Saturday shows there is clear majority support for maintaining Ireland’s current model of neutrality, but voters also want to see the state dramatically increase its military capacity to defend the country. airspace and territorial waters.

When asked if they support the current model of military state neutrality or would like to see it changed, 61% of voters said they support the current model, while slightly more a quarter (26%) said they would like to see that change. Thirteen percent of respondents expressed no opinion.

[ More people support a change in neutrality, but few agree on what it should be ]

Among voters in favor of a change in the neutrality policy, the majority support NATO membership and closer EU defense cooperation. Of these voters, 71% favor joining closer European defense cooperation, while 56% support joining NATO.

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