Green Party: EU must not compromise neutrality

The Green Party has warned that Irish neutrality will be compromised if the European Union implement proposals contained within a new report on European defence.

The report, which is being presented at the Convention on Europe today, recommends that all EU states cooperate in the event of a terrorist attack.

It also says that member states should make all their institutions available for support if such an attack occurs.

John Gormley of the Greens has stressed that there are other ways to tackle international terrorism without compromising Irish neutrality.

"I don't accept that you can defeat terrorism by military means alone, I think it requires better intelligence, it requires better cooperation among police forces and things like that," he said.