Helen McEntee: Triple lock not working for Ireland

Helen McEntee: 'Russia has increased its attacks not just on critical infrastructure but on civilian infrastructure, and we’ve seen the largest number of civilian casualties since the beginning of the war.' File picture: PA

Ukraine is most likely facing its “darkest winter” to date in the protracted and brutal war inflicted by Russia, defence minster Helen McEntee has said.

Speaking at the annual conference of the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (Raco), Ms McEntee said Russia is trying to “turn off the lights, turn off the water, turn off the heating” in Ukraine, severely affecting ordinary civilians.

Ms McEntee, who is also foreign affairs minister, told the conference that the triple lock — which requires an UN mandate for significant overseas military deployments — was not working for Ireland.

She said the UN Security Council was no longer operating effectively, pointing out that no new peacekeeping missions have been agreed by it since 2014.

She said it was also why the mandate of UNIFIL, the UN mission in Lebanon and Ireland’s longest and largest overseas deployment, has not been renewed.

The minister was speaking ahead of Dáil debates on legislation removing the UN requirement for overseas missions.

On the worsening civilian death toll in Ukraine, Ms McEntee said: “Russia has increased its attacks not just on critical infrastructure but on civilian infrastructure, and we’ve seen the largest number of civilian casualties since the beginning of the war.” 

Last month 328 civilians were killed in Ukraine and another 2,105 were injured, a casualty level 85% higher than September 2025.

In  Kyiv, civilians were affected by attacks on 22 of 30 days in September — more often than in any other month since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. This trend has continued in October.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has warned that repeated strikes on energy infrastructure could intensify civilians’ suffering.

Ms McEntee said: “There is an onus on us, not just as [holders of the] presidency, to make sure that that support for Ukraine is absolute and steadfast over the next number of months and years, but also to make sure that we can contribute in every way possible.” 

The minister said that in addition to taking in Ukrainians, Ireland had provided financial contributions for defence capabilities in Ukraine, for training capabilities, supporting people on the ground and military personnel.

She said Ireland has also funded the country’s critical infrastructure, adding: “When you actually look at where the targets now are from Russia, they are trying to quite literally turn off the lights, turn off the water, turn off the heating and impact people in the most severe way possible.” 

In her speech to officers, Ms McEntee said Ireland was expanding and deepening its military relationships throughout the EU. 

This included a maritime operational framework with France and moves to join the Joint Expeditionary Force, a 10-nation military coalition tasked with protecting northern European waters and critical sub-sea infrastructure from Russian threats.

She said she was “keen” for Ireland to take part in this coalition in order to “enhance regional maritime security”.

The minister also said the Defence Forces should be in a position next year to join the EU Common Information Sharing Environment.

This network provides a secure, automated, cross‑border information exchange between military and civilian maritime surveillance authorities across Europe.

Cormac O’Keeffe, Security Correspondent