Calls on the Government to stopping repeating the lie that UN Security Council members have a veto over peacekeeping missions
People Before Profit introduced a motion in the Dáil this morning that called on the Government to withdraw plans for legislation to end the triple lock; to commit to a referendum on enshrining neutrality in the Constitution; and to end the use of Shannon airport by the US military.
Deputy Paul Murphy clashed with Tánaiste Micheál Martin during the Dáil debate. Deputy Murphy said “I called out the dishonesty of the Tánaiste and the Government in their shameless undermining of neutrality. I pointed out that the Tánaiste is promoting a ‘red herring’ by claiming that the triple lock means our participation in peacekeeping missions depends on the agreement of UN Security Council members. That is not true. The truth is that the Defence (Amendment) Act 2006 means that Irish troops may participate in peacekeeping missions which are endorsed, supported or approved by the General Assembly of the UN. UN Security Council members do not have a veto, yet the Tánaiste repeats that it does on an almost daily basis, and he did it again in the Dáil this morning”.
Deputy Murphy also said “The notion that we need to get rid of the triple lock so we can deploy more than 12 troops to rescue Irish civilians abroad is another red herring. The 2006 Act provides an exemption to triple lock in cases where defence forces are ‘undertaking humanitarian tasks’. It’s time for these Government lies to stop”.
Deputy Bríd Smith said “In the Dáil this morning, Minister Fleming disgraced himself by again using the ‘Putin’s puppets’ smear. The Minister knows full well that we are relentless critics of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and his authoritarian right-wing politics. We oppose all the imperial powers and we will never waver on that, and it was right that the Minister was made to withdraw his baseless claim”.
Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett TD said “We saw again in the Dáil today the emergence of a new McCarthyism. These are the tactics of the US during cold war merchants – tactics that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war in the 1960s. Fianna Fáil have hob-nobed with Putin in the past. People Before Profit haven’t and never will. On the contrary we know socialist co-thinkers who are in jail in Russia right now for opposing Putin and his bloody war in Ukraine. But we are against the escalation of the war in Ukraine to what could ultimately be a nuclear war, and we stand by that position.
Our motion will be voted on in the Dáil this evening and we hope that a majority of TDs will vote to protect neutrality and the triple lock and to end the use of Shannon airport by the US military”.
