Government proposal on triple Lock gives an Irish solution to an Irish problem

The 'self-imposed straitjacket' undermines Irish sovereignty and should have been constitutionally challenged years ago, writes Dorcha Lee

In the event of the EU mounting an armed rescue mission, where UN approval could not be achieved, the triple lock would block Irish troops’ participation in missions aimed at saving the lives of our own people, writes Dorcha Lee. Picture: Óglaigh na hÉireann/Flickr

I welcome the Government’s latest proposals to fully restore Irish sovereignty over decisions to deploy Irish troops on armed missions overseas.

It’s time to unlock the triple lock.

The rejection by the Irish people of the Nice referendum on the June 7, 2001, was a uniquely Irish generated crisis.

The treaty was aimed at preparing the then 15-member state union for its biggest enlargement to 27 member states by 2007.

Crucially, it had to be ratified by all member states but only Ireland was obliged to conduct a referendum.

In effect, the failed referendum had blocked — or at least threatened to seriously derail — one of the most ambitious projects of the European Union.

The news was most keenly felt by the 8,000 Irish citizens living and working in Brussels, particularly the approximately 100 Irish diplomats and civil servants attached to the Irish Permanent Representation to the EU.

After almost 30 years of hard work, Ireland’s reputation as a model EU member state had evaporated overnight.

From model state to pariah state, Ireland was seen to have benefitted greatly from EU handouts and then stabbed the union in the back.

The international media feasted with a frenzy on the carcass of Ireland’s EU reputation. Those of us Irish working in the Brussels bubble were detached from the reality of politics at home.

It was realised in Dublin that if we continued to block the expansion, the EU would do us no favours

There was still time to run another referendum, but new parameters had to be included to mollify the ideologues of neutrality.

Taking inspiration from former health minister Charles Haughey’s solution to the problem of legalising contraceptives in 1979, the Nice Treaty required “an Irish solution to an Irish problem”.

In the end, however, instead of a doctor’s prescription, all we needed was UN approval.

The triple lock was born. It was rushed from the Rotunda to Leinster House, quickly baptised, and greeted by the people.

Within a year, the bonny baby triple lock, a child genius at age one, secured the second Nice referendum.

The day was saved. Ireland was saved. Former states that had emerged from communism were able to join the EU.

Peacekeeping missions

For the first few years, the child grew and was doted on by everyone. Its tantrums were gently tolerated, even when it insisted that any one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — China, France, Russia, US, and Britain — can effectively withhold UN approval on Irish participation in overseas peacekeeping missions.

One of the unintended possible consequences of retaining the triple lock limits the State’s capability to rescue Irish citizens in trouble abroad.

The obvious example is in crisis-prone countries, such as countries in Africa, where thousands of Irish missionaries and NGO staff are working.

The competition among UN permanent members is such that, in almost every conflict in Africa, they are pitted against each other to the extent that security council approval is very difficult or impossible.

In the event of the EU mounting an armed rescue mission, where UN approval could not be achieved, the triple lock would block Irish troops’ participation in missions aimed at saving the lives of our own people.

The triple lock undermines Irish sovereignty and should have been constitutionally challenged years ago.

 Why should we be subservient to any foreign power when it is not even reciprocated?

 It was a self-imposed straitjacket.

Another restriction was that the maximum number of armed Irish troops that could be sent abroad without Dáil approval was set at 12. Why 12?

Was somebody over influenced by that Second World War action film The Dirty Dozen?

The one where tough guy, cigar-chomping Telly Savalas toured military prisons to recruit 12 military psychopaths for a special operation.

Recently, in the Letters to the Editor column of the Irish Examiner,fellow veteran Tim O’Connell explained why 50 was the right number for small unit operations abroad.

Based on the infantry platoon of 34, the remaining 16 would be specialist support elements selected for the specific mission.

Even Luxembourg has sent more troops abroad than that without external approval. Irish neutrality was never dependent on the triple lock.

The neutrality policy preceded the triple lock by 60 years. In reality, the triple lock undermines Irish neutrality by empowering five foreign powers to veto the sovereign will of our Government and the Dáil.

At last, Houdini himself has come back from the dead to unravel the straitjacket.

The Government’s proposed legislation has realistically broadened its application to most of the situations we can foresee at this stage.

In practice, the changes effectively decouple future governments neatly from the permanent members’ veto.

Times have changed.

The blissfully unaware Irish public should no longer be kept in the dark on security and defence matters.

A properly informed public in 2001, would most probably have passed the first Nice referendum and avoided the need for the triple lock in the first place.

• Colonel Dorcha Lee (ret) is a former Irish military advisor and military representative in Brussels.