Ireland, neutrality and militarism
NATO Partnership for Peace
The proposition that Ireland is neutral when it comes to international relations is a myth. Since it came into existence over 100 years ago the Irish state has aligned itself politically with imperialism, whether that be with Britain or more recently with the United States and the European Union.
Even the narrower definition of neutrality as “military” neutrality doesn’t hold up under any scrutiny. The support provided to the Allies during WWII is well documented. Over the past twenty years the Irish state, through the provision of Shannon airport, has played an important logistical role in the US led wars in West Asia, from the Iraq War of 2003 to the ongoing genocide in Gaza. Ireland is currently a member of PESCO, the precursor to an EU army, and also of the Partnership for Peace, which is an arm of NATO.
There has been a marked acceleration towards militarism and deeper involvement in military alliances over the last couple of years. The government has committed to increasing annual defence spending by 50%, bringing it up to €1.5 billion by 2028. This will fund an Action Plan to expand and upgrade Ireland’s military capabilities. Under its proposals, the Irish Naval Service, to be renamed the Irish Navy, will operate 12 ships, double the fleet. The Irish Air Corps, to become the Irish Air Force, would acquire a squadron of combat aircraft. The plan also involves the purchase of a fleet of modern armoured vehicles for the Army; the establishment of a military intelligence school; and a corps of 300 troops dedicated to cybersecurity. The full implementation of the Action Plan would require a further hike in the annual defence budget to €3 billion.
The primary aim of the plan is to bring the Irish military up to NATO standards and make it interoperable with other military forces within the organisation. This is not about defending the territory and airspace of Ireland, which is not under threat, but about restructuring the Irish military as a component of a broader military alliance. Further evidence for this is the oversight role that the Institute Security Governance (ISG) will play in the redesign of the Irish military.
This company, which is part of the Defense Security Cooperation University (DSCU), is based at the Pentagon outside Washington DC. Its director Ian Wexler was chief legal counsel for the US’s Guantanamo Bay camps from 2015 to 2016. On its website the ISG boasts that it has conducted more than 2,600 “advising activities” across 80-plus countries since 2018, working to align foreign military institutions with US defence structures.
The main motivator of the rush to militarism is the ongoing proxy war in Ukraine. The Irish government has aligned itself completely with this and pledged to support Ukraine on “all fronts”. While it may be described as non-lethal or defensive this includes military support. Irish Defence Forces personnel have provided weapons handling and mine clearing training to the Ukrainian military. The Irish government also contributed to the EU ammunition fund for Ukraine. Most recently Ireland has donated mobile radar units to Ukraine.
Most alarmingly the Irish government has not ruled out contributing personnel to a peace keeping force for Ukraine. This would be assembled from the militaries of the states that make up the “coalition of willing” led by Starmer and Macron. The proposal for such a force has nothing to do with peace. Its only purpose is to pro-long the war. Using a ceasefire as cover to move NATO troops into Ukraine would be a provocation to Russia. It was the threat by NATO to site advanced weapons systems in Ukraine that was the most immediate cause of the war. NATO in Ukraine under the guise of peacekeeping risks a direct confrontation with Russia that could escalate to nuclear war. The motivation for doing away with Triple Lock is to make it easter for Ireland to be part of such ad hoc military coalitions.
A defence of a non-existent neutrality is not going to be enough to halt the drive to war. We need to oppose its root cause and that means opposing imperialism and its local agents.