Irish Examiner view: Tough times give rise to hard choices on Irish neutrality

This has been the subject matter of often incendiary discourse since the Second World War, or The Emergency as was known in Ireland

Irish troops on duty with the 124th Irish-Polish Battalion in Unifil, Lebanon, with members from the armed forces of Malta and Hungary. File Picture: @DefenceForces

It is inevitable that the debate about Ireland’s neutrality is set to intensify as the Government this week prepares to amend our triple lock system, whereby a UN resolution is necessary — as well as government and Dáil approval — before Irish troops can be deployed overseas.

This, together with plans to dramatically enhance our military capability — fighter jets, an actual working naval service, and substantially increased personnel numbers — as well as the provision of hundreds of millions of euro in aid to Ukraine, are already lighting a flame under the age-old political hot potato that is Ireland’s military non-alignment.