Gino Kenny: Says Irish Neutrality Is Sacred, Must Be Enshrined

Thanks, Chair. Conister, we're living in very dangerous times. We're living in times of where international law, the norms, even in warfare, is being breached on a daily basis, and we only have to see what's going on in Gaza. The pictures and the images are just incomprehensible, what Israel is doing to human beings, children, women and men. And in that kind of context, Irish neutrality has always been sacred. It's been sacred from the foundation of the state. And the overwhelming majority of Irish people have supported neutrality, because they understand if our neutrality is eroded, we can be kind of pulled into conflicts, not of our making, where our citizens are maimed. And we've seen throughout the last 100 years, in World War I and World War II, where, you know, countries got dragged into imperialist wars. So, it's super important that our neutrality stays the way it is, and it's not compromised. But I believe it has been compromised and eroded over the last number of decades and well beyond. And I think it's that, and I think it's that by language and by deeds, and particularly the militarisation of the European Union. And you just have to look at the European defence industrial strategy. This is a precursor to a European defence model and a defence European defence army. They spend hundreds of billions of euros in terms of military hardware. And it's, you know, you only have to look at throughout history, where there's more militarisation, where there's more equipment for war, it's going to be used eventually. And we've just seen that, as I said, via the European Union. You look at the European battle groups, or as troops are engaged with that, you know, that is very controversial in terms of air neutrality. What's really worrying is, particularly in the last number of decades, is where economic blocks are more from, from economical competition to potential conflict. Where competition then turns into a conflict. And we've seen this in the Pacific, we've seen this in the Middle East, and we've seen this in other parts of the world. And this is extremely dangerous, in terms of not only Ireland's neutrality, but for world peace. I mean, the blatant breach of Irish neutrality is the use of Shannon Airport by American troops. I mean, remember this, America invaded Iraq in 2003 illegally. And the consequences of that, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians were killed by American troops. And the kind of, in pursuing, subsequently then, the civil war that happened. Hundreds of thousands of people died because of that illegal invasion. And yet Ireland facilitated millions of American troops going through Shannon Airport. Now, that's a blatant breach of our neutrality, blatant breach. And that has to stop. Any government, you know, that's called themselves left, has to stop that, you know, blatant breach of what's happened, what's continued to happen in Iraq. So, Tanya, neutrality is sacred. It's very dear to the Irish people. And it's very dear to people that love peace, and do not want to be dragged into other people's wars. Because that's what has happened in the past. And our neutrality is so important in terms of not being dragged into them wars, them conflicts. But, again, I would argue, the language and rhetoric that's been used by this government, in terms of the triple lock, in terms of the militarization, is extremely worrying. That there's a potential that Irish troops could be involved in a European army via a European conflict, particularly around what's happening in Ukraine and elsewhere. So, on that basis, air neutrality has to be kind of put in the constitution that we can never, ever, under any circumstance, ever be involved in military pacts or European wars, in terms of where the European Union has gone. So, neutrality is sacred, but that has to be enshrined in our constitution. Thank you.