Ireland must retain triple lock to protect peacekeeping role, says former PDForra chief

Men and women of the 125th Infantry Battalion at Custume Barracks, Athlone, Co Westmeath, ahead of their six-month deployment to South Lebanon as part of United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) in October 2024. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

A former general secretary of the country’s largest military representative association has said Ireland must preserve the so-called triple lock and pursue a policy of active neutrality to continue in its peacekeeping role.

Former PDForra general secretary Gerry Rooney said Ireland’s first major overseas deployment took place in 1960, when troops were sent to the Congo as part of the UN mission ONUC.