Irish Examiner view: Neutrality never a case of black and white

A debate on where our strategic political alliances place us in the bigger scheme of things is a reasonable and sensible position to adopt

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar: His announcement that proposals are being developed for a discussion on neutrality was vague and possibly not very well considered. Picture: Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP

The revelation last week in Brussels that the Government is considering a series of public discussions on Ireland’s security and defence within a domestic and international decision will be seen by some here as another threat to the country’s neutrality.

The announcement by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, that proposals are being developed for a discussion on neutrality, was vague and possibly not very well considered, forcing Government insiders into something of a clean-up operation to clarify intentions.

When Mr Varadkar declined to go into detail on his assertion that Tánaiste and Defence Minister Micheál Martin was developing proposals, a lot of political hackles were raised.

Government ‘sources’ had to swing into action to reassure people that the proposals will not focus solely on neutrality, but also on our defence and security policies in the light of the current world order.

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The equally thorny issue of Nato membership is another the Government parties are determined not to get dragged into, insisting the proposed public discussions will provide nothing other than “food for thought” for future decisions.

It is the administration’s stated wish to create a forum for transparent and adult discussion and debate on the whole area of security — not just domestically, but on a pan-European basis. 

Mr Martin’s assertion last year , that Ireland’s neutrality should be up for discussionin the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, indicates a high level of backing for such discourse.

Historically, Ireland has not — despite claims to the contrary — ever been politically neutral and that is a position accepted internationally, as is our unwillingness to join Nato. Such issues, however, can never be viewed in plain black-and-white terms.

A debate, therefore, on where our strategic political alliances place us in the bigger scheme of things is a reasonable and sensible position to adopt.

To simply maintain that because we have historically been a neutral country, we should remain so, is to deny the complexities of the world in which we now live.

Our security is now locked in with those to whom we align politically, and it’s about time we took that on board.