Adams: Military help 'abandons Irish neutrality'

The Government is doing nothing to promote Ireland’s status as a neutral state, Sinn Féin said today.

The party said ministers have compromised the state’s international position by granting landing rights to aircraft carrying foreign troops to wars in other countries and through EU treaties.

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams said: “In our view the Government has abandoned a policy of Irish neutrality.

“Despite what Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael or the PDs may think or want people to believe, neutrality is not about isolationism.

“It is about active engagement in the global community.”

The party said it wanted to encourage debate around Ireland’s position on security matters as it launched the Positive Neutrality in Action document in Dublin today.

Sinn Féin said the EU constitutional treaty, which the Government hopes to establish during its EU presidency, would push the country closer to an 25-bloc army.

Mary Lou McDonald, a European Parliament election candidate for Dublin, said: “It is clear that the EU Treaties taken together aim to reconstruct the EU as a military and economic superpower.

“The draft EU Constitution proposes to accelerate this process further, particularly with the introduction of the solidarity clause at Article 40.”

Ms McDonald added the EU has become increasingly militarised since the first reference to a common defence policy appeared in the Maastricht Treaty.

“The need for intervention to halt the momentum of EU militarisation has never been more urgent,” she added.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh, TD, said: “We were the first party in the Dáil to propose a fresh motion calling on the Government to stop allowing Shannon to be used by US troops as a refuelling base.”

Mr Ó Snodaigh also proposed an amendment to the defence policy to limit the cases in which Defence Force members can be sent only to internationally United Nations-led peacekeeping missions.

The party called on the Government to withdraw from all commitments to military type alliances, such as the EU Rapid Reaction Force and NATO’s Partnership for Peace.

Mr Ó Snodaigh said a Sinn Féin private members bill put forward last year to enshrine neutrality in the constitution failed to be passed.