Neutral Ireland is dead and gone!

national | anti-war / imperialism | opinion/analysis Sunday March 19, 2006 18:54 by Orlaith Farrell orlaith.farrell at gmail dot com Dublin

Irish neutrality is an area that has long been mis understood and mis-interpreted. The majority of people are very opinionated but know very little on the subject. Our Government has made decisions that will affect us without any referendum or regard for public opinion. But were we ever really neutral? The time has come for the Irish people to make a decision.

Last weekend as Bush landed in Shannon, aided by Garda, Army and Air Corps, his arrival was met with cries of outrage from the Irish people and yet again the old tired issue of our neutrality was raised. The day has long passed when Irish people can call themselves neutral, non-aligned perhaps, neutral no.

The reality of it is that all that is left of our supposed neutrality is deValera’s legacy of myth and mis-education. His refusal while in office to be perceived as a sub-ordinate of Britain was the birth place of Irish neutrality. The idea that our neutrality is grounded in our constitution is in fact a myth.

Ok so at least we can acknowledge DeValera for this one virtuous act for Ireland, not so, the United States have in fact been facilitated in Shannon since the second World War, granted with changes in media, DeValera was able to do it a little more covertly than Bertie but none the less, foreign troops in Shannon is not a new trend.

Ireland continues to hide behind an empty white flag in the face of European allegiance and our role as a US lap dog. As Condoleezza Rice fulfils her role as playground bully and Bertie Ahern gladly hands over his lunch money, we rely on myth of our constitutional neutrality to save us.

It has become the white flag that we wave when it suits us. We continue to facilitate ‘belligerents’ despite the requirements laid down by the Hague Convention to define neutrality and we wade deeper daily into European relationships. The truth of the matter is we have never adhered to neutral guidelines.

How can we continue to refer to ourselves as neutral?

When Ireland signed up to the European Union we automatically entered the transatlantic security setting. The small military neutrality we have maintained has been over shadowed by our strong political alliances; surely neutrality by definition is a total distinction from partnerships political or other?

Within Europe our neutrality is a very different entity. Here our government blurs the lines of our neutrality, but in the name of peace. On the basis of our neutrality Ireland has always declined to become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. As we begin to re-evaluate our role is it out of a sense of responsibility that our Government join Partnership for Peace or due to a conscious decision to move toward NATO as its role in European security becomes more poignant?

Signing up to Partnership for Peace signifies ‘our commitment to the International Community to provide combined, co-operative efforts aimed at providing support to area’s in time of conflict’ as Declan Power Independent Security and Defence Analyst sees it. On the other hand Roger Cole from the Peace and Neutrality Alliance refers to these battle groups as ‘regiments of the emerging Empire’ in a speech laden with words such as evil, torture and Imperialist employing semantic tactics to deploy fear and ignorance.

As we slowly but surely merge with our non neutral European counterparts do these Alliances act as a stepping stone for full blown NATO membership? Should this be our time to finally make a decision, a referendum and the enshrinement of neutrality in our Constitution, or acknowledge our International responsibilities and immerse ourselves in the work of NATO?

The key role of NATO in European security has created both opportunities and dilemma’s for ‘former neutrals’ as we are now referred to by Stanley R. Sloan Senior Specialist in International Security Policy for Congress. The US no longer sees us as neutral how can we continue to kid ourselves?

The reality is we are having dinner with America, we’re in bed with the EU and our white flag is flying outside the front door. Ireland is the proverbial Ostrich, our head buried deep in a false sense of security that our so-called neutrality affords us. A mis-guided belief in a neutral Ireland is no form of defence. Is our vision of Ireland as an independent neutral state with the role of International peace-keeper, or is such a notion idealistic?

What George Bush’s arrival in Shannon signified last week was the time has come for real education on the subject and real decisions from the Irish people.