Tom Clonan: Remove Triple Lock - peacekeeping will end
Tom Clonan warns that rising misinformation about the Triple Lock risks ending UN Blue Helmet peacekeeping. As legislation approaches the Houses he explains why removing the Triple Lock would change Irish deployments from neutral peacekeepers to fighting forces.
Immediate warning: Clonan sets out the core consequence - without the Triple Lock and a UN mandate, Irish troops would no longer serve as Blue Helmet peacekeepers. He argues missions would become peace enforcement or full fighting missions, ending the neutrality that accompanies UN peacekeeping.
Historical context: He cites past UN-authorised conflicts such as Korea, the Balkans, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo and Afghanistan to show how peace enforcement can develop into active combat. Clonan rejects claims that constraints on deployment are imposed by foreign leaders, calling such narratives false and emphasising that deployment is a sovereign decision of the Oireachtas.
Political consequences: Clonan challenges colleagues, specifically mentioning Fianna Fáil, to ask where troops would be sent if the Triple Lock is removed. He frames the debate as a question of Ireland's commitment to multilateral UN principles and the link between neutrality and the Triple Lock.
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I just want to raise the issue of the increasing levels of misinformation, and I'm sorry to say disinformation, about the Triple Lock. And as the legislation on the Triple Lock approaches the Houses, that level of misinformation is accelerating. And I just want to be very clear about this. If we get rid of the Triple Lock, we're not going to have peacekeeping anymore, because by definition, without a UN mandate, it's not a Blue Helmet mission. So think about that. So we'll be sending our troops away on missions, no longer wearing the blue beret that we're so proud of, no longer wearing the blue helmet. They will not be peacekeeping missions. They'll be peace enforcement missions. And even peace enforcement missions with the UN mandate, for example, the war in Korea, the Balkans, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, and more recently, Afghanistan, they have developed into full fighting missions. So without the Triple Lock, we won't be sending our people on Blue Helmet admissions. We'll be sending them to fight. And if you're fighting, by definition, you're not neutral. The myth that we can only send 12 personnel overseas at the moment and that we need to get rid of the Triple Lock, that is completely untrue. It was confirmed to the Defense and National Security Committee last May by the Department of Defense. The idea that Trump, Putin, or Xi Jinping have a say in where we send our troops, that is a false narrative. It is a choice of the Irish people by sovereign decision of the Oireachtas and sovereign, solemn declarations given in Europe that we would be bound. This is what the Irish people want, is to be bound by the multilateral principles of the United Nations. At a time when we're having illegal wars, for example, the strikes on Iran, reprehensible as that regime is, the invasion of Lebanon now is not the time to walk away from the UN. And I would ask my colleagues in Fianna Fáil, when you are at your parliamentary meeting tonight talking about this issue, ask the questions, where will our troops be sent? And to suggest that there's no link between neutrality and the Triple Lock is like saying that there's no link between the steering wheel and the brakes on a car. Go raibh míle maith agaibh.
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