The Government will propose a motion in the Dáil on Thursday to authorise Ireland’s participation in four European Defence Agency (EDA) projects to buy military equipment, including ammunition, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear equipment. It follows the charade of the Government’s ‘security forum’ and is another step in a stealth strategy to further compromise Irish neutrality and involve the Irish state in militarisation1.
The EDA is an intergovernmental agency of the EU Council and, as such, evades parliamentary scrutiny. It is at the center of the European Union’s militarisation strategy and operates a very close working relationship with the arms industry.
The EDA has recently established a common EU procurement programme to buy military equipment. In the latest step to compromise Ireland’s neutrality, the Irish government is now proposing that Ireland join with this new military project. Simon Coveney recently said Ireland is open to joint procurement in a variety of areas “whether it’s ammunition, whether it’s helmets, whether it’s protective equipment and, in time, it will be armoured personnel carriers, later on this decade”2.
New data fromthe Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) reveals that global military spending reached $2.24 trillion in 2022, up 3.7% on the previous year. NATO states account for 55% of this spending, followed by China on 13% and Russia on 3.9%. The EU’s military budget increased 183% in 2022, to €5.24bn, excluding the military spending of individual member states3.
The unwinnable arms race is accelerating, adding to the suffering of ordinary people all over the world and driving greenhouse gas emissions even higher as climate catastrophe approaches. Meanwhile 7 of the 10 largest private arms corporations dramatically increased their market value in 20224.
Ireland should have no part in this. People Before Profit rejects this militarisation and we will oppose the government’s motion to further involve the Irish state in the arms race.