There is a song about the building of Knock airport by Christy Moore which ends with Moore lilting the last verse.
At first listen, you just assume it’s a traditional “diddly-aye-dum-day” sort of lilt but by the second line you figure out he’s saying “Did Nato donate, did Nato donate, did Nato donate the dough?”
Seeing Air Force One touch down at what’s now called Ireland West Airport had me singing it like an ear-worm I just couldn’t shake.
Part of that was because one thing that seems to have flown under the radar without too much scrutiny was President Joe Biden’s comments around Ireland’s neutrality, which seems to suggest that it is not as certain as it once was.
In his speech to the Oireachtas, Biden said: “President Kennedy said 60 years ago, ‘Ireland pursues an independent course in foreign policy, but it is not neutral between liberty and tyranny and it never will be’ – thank you for that.
“Over the past year Ireland has proved him right, and stood proudly with the United States and partners around the world for liberty against tyranny.”
Mr Biden added: “Ireland has committed more than €170 million in non-lethal aid to Ukraine, including vital protective gear, medical equipment, humanitarian support and aid to minimise the impacts of war on food insecurity and child malnutrition – you don’t forget, you got memories that go deep.”
Biden said that, as a member of the European Union, Ireland is working together with the United States and other partners to hold Russia accountable for its actions including through significant sanctions and export controls.
In March last year, Ireland agreed to provide funding only for non-lethal equipment and medical supplies to Ukraine. This is in keeping with the long-term foreign policy where Ireland has not been strictly neutral but has been militarily unaligned.
Military neutrality only really existed during World War II and since 1958, Irish military personnel have had a continuous presence in international operations in support of peace from Afghanistan to Uganda, Kosovo to Kuwait and in conflict zones including Syria, Lebanon and Israel.
Ireland has also participated in Nato missions mandated by the UN as members of Partnership for Peace. Most disgracefully, the Irish government allowed the CIA to use Shannon airport whilst it was conducting rendition flights of Afghan and Iraqi prisoners of war, and that is not a neutral position.
For Biden to bring up the issue of neutrality in the context of holding Russia accountable for its actions is not at all insignificant. It indicates that the United States and EU believe the Irish state has crossed a big line on neutrality.
The fact that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accompanied him on the trip to meet with Irish officials to “discuss our shared co-operation and deep ties” reinforces this.
The comments come in the same week that a Pentagon security document summarising European governments’ responses to Ukraine’s requests for military training and “lethal aid”, ie weapons, was leaked.
Reuters reported that the Pentagon chart divided the responses to Ukraine's requests for aid into four categories: countries that had committed to provide training and lethal aid; countries that had already provided training, lethal aid or both, and countries with the military ability and the political will "to provide future lethal aid".
Austria and Malta were the only two countries marked "No" in all four categories, begging the question – where was Ireland?
If the government has tried to present Irish support for Ukraine as humanitarian aid and the Pentagon, who are experts in such matters, label it somewhat differently, then what’s the truth? Has Ireland already provided training or lethal aid, training to military personnel or has it indicated that it is willing to do so?
Irish neutrality has always been the subject of a “triple lock”, which means that Irish military interventions have a UN Security Council or General Assembly resolution; a decision of government and a Dáil resolution.
But at the Fine Gael Ard Fheis last October Simon Coveney, who was Minister for Foreign Affairs at the time, said that dropping the triple lock would be “sensible” since reliance on UN approval for actions was providing Russia with an effective veto.
He said that he would not regard changes to the triple lock as a change to Irish neutrality, rather that it would be “simply allowing us to make decisions for Ireland”.
None of this is abstract or accidental. Earlier this month, the current Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, Micheál Martin, announced plans for a “consultative forum on international security policy”.
The forum will be held in June to examine issues relating to Ireland’s defence capabilities, security and military neutrality.
Whilst discussing issues such as peacekeeping and crisis management, and conflict prevention, the forum will also see a discussion on Ireland’s policy of military neutrality. It will be open to the public and will accept written submissions.
It is of course right and proper that any government assesses current global threats and their impact on its citizens and neighbours, but in Ireland’s case this must be from a perspective of de-escalation and the protection of human rights and not at the cost of a principle which is at the core of the national identity.
Ireland’s neutrality can’t be bought with a state visit and a set-piece spectacle in Ballina.
