Our leaders must show courage in commitment to peace by keeping the triple lock

We urge the government to use this moment of heightened conflict to retain the triple lock and speak out against obvious breaches of international law and efforts to undermine the UN

Micheál Martin inspecting the troops of the 124th Infantry Battalion at Camp Shamrock in Debel, Lebanon, in 2024.

We write as academics and university workers to reiterate our deep concern at the Government’s efforts to remove the State’s triple lock on the deployment of the Irish Defence Forces overseas.

The triple lock ensures that no more than 12 Irish troops can be deployed to overseas missions without a UN mandate. As such, it guarantees that significant overseas troop deployment can only take place as part of UN peacekeeping missions and in line with international law.