Ireland is ‘not neutral and never has been’, says Eoghan Murphy TD

A government TD has contradicted senior coalition colleagues by claiming that Ireland is “not a neutral country and we never have been”.

Backbencher Eoghan Murphy made the controversial claim during a Dáil debate on whether the issue should be enshrined in the Constitution, insisting there is “a wider world in which we operate” and that neutrality is not always “an intrinsic good”.

Responding to Sinn Féin draft legislation on the issue, the Dublin South East TD said while Irish neutrality has been official policy since the Second World War, the reality is that this country is not neutral and supports foreign actions in certain circumstances.