Micheál Martin has again insisted Ireland is not joining Nato, and denied a recently-signed partnership agreement with it is “an erosion of our neutrality”.
Instead, he said Ireland needs help from a variety of different bodies to not only protect itself but to help carry out international peace-keeping duties.
The issue of neutrality came up repeatedly yesterday’s meeting of the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence. Asked by Sinn Féin’s Matt Carty about what he would consider to be a breach of Irish neutrality, the minister said: “Neutrality is fundamentally whether you are a member of a military alliance or not. That’s how it has always been defined. […]
Senator Alice-Mary Higgins said: “My understanding of neutrality is that neutrality is not simply the absence of a military alliance or membership.
“Neutrality is the idea that you apply international principles and international law equally to all on the basis of those principles and not on the basis of ‘we have our allies and friends’ and different laws can apply to our friends and enemies. Läs artikel