The Triple Lock Fiasco

A short breakdown of the Triple Lock narrative and a few ideas going forward.

Neutrality is a word that almost all Irish people outside of the establishment hold dear and see it as part of our national identity. It is terrifying and angering to me as an Irish person, watching video after video of EU backed conscription kidnappings in Ukraine, to be faced with the prospect of our neutrality being actively jettisoned by the Oireachtas. Yes, unfortunately our freshly elected officials have decided push forward with a proposal known as the The Defence (Amendment) Bill, which will remove the UN Security Councils right to veto Irish peacekeeping deployment. Wait, what has this got to do with neutrality? Truth be told, it is less than neutral. It is a total surrendering of our military decisions to the UN as without their consent, we cannot mobilise our troops for any reason. This forces us to tailor our deployment to their whims rather than Ireland’s own interests. We cannot be neutral without sovereignty. So what is going on?

The UN is a globalist institution that actively interferes in national affairs by undermining nation states in order to accumulate power. It is primarily a vehicle for open borders and centralisation of global governance. The recent USAID scandal showed the world that the UN was using billions of dollars to fund an army of activists across the globe to subvert their own nations. There seems to be two camps within this network. The NATO/EU camp want the Triple lock gone. The Russian camp want the Triple lock to stay in place because it empowers their masters in Moscow. Eurocentric activists such as John O’Brennan are pushing hard to remove our triple lock to put Irish EU battlegroup participation within arms reach and even pave the way for a full scale EU army. The outrage in response to this from the liberal NGO complex about the Triple Lock is a conceited endeavour by this network of foreign Russian agents to keep the Irish Defences Forces under the control of their Veto. For this reason I will ask the reader, who like me cares deeply about neutrality, to realise that the Triple lock is only being removed to bypass Russia’s Veto, not because it is a device to preserve our neutrality. If you want to talk about neutrality, don’t talk about the triple lock. That is a UN/NATO/EU narrative. Talk instead about our Constitution which is the rightful place for a neutrality clause or lock.

The Irish Constitution is the only “lock” that should be spoken about on this topic as it defines the values we hold as a nation and also locks the government out of declared areas of policy making. Article five is a great place to start when seeking to keep Ireland neutral. Likewise, Article 6 grants the Irish people the final say on all matters of national policy.

ARTICLE 5

Ireland is a sovereign, independent, democratic state.

ARTICLE 6

1 All powers of government, legislative, executive and judicial, derive, under God, from the people, whose right it is to designate the rulers of the State and, in final appeal, to decide all questions of national policy, according to the requirements of the common good.

With the addition of one word and a comma to article 5, we can make Ireland institutionally neutral. No cooperation or support for any nation at war, scheming for war or otherwise. No more Shannon airport pitstops and no more ambassadors or embassies that engage in war mongering/lobbying here. No production, sale or reception of military hardware. A referendum to change the constitution to the following, would preserve the sovereignty gained in the absence of the Triple lock and imbue our shared value of neutrality into our policy making.

ARTICLE 5 ( My proposed amendment )

Ireland is a sovereign, independent, neutral, democratic state.

The case for this is strong. We have a history of political leaders who have worked towards peace and have developed the doctrine of neutrality out of respect for the values of the Irish people but also with special attention to the geo political realities of what a small island in the Atlantic should aspire to be. Eamon De Valera was famous for his ideas on neutrality and much of our connection to the principle is traced back to his Presidency and writings. In his Speech to Heads of Missions Conference by Éamon de Valera on post-war Irish foreign policy and diplomatic relations in Dublin, 11 September 1945, De Valera explains the long term vision of a neutral Ireland as a force for change in the world.

“We must accept the position that our neutrality during the great war, while emphasising our independent status, as well as the partition of our country, has made our relations with the British and with the Americans somewhat more difficult. But this is a case where we must take the long view. Great problems, internal and external, arising out of the war, have to be solved by these two countries. And, as time goes on, peoples everywhere, whether victors or vanquished, becoming more conscious of the horrors of war and of the complete futility of the aims and aspirations connected with it, will take a calmer view of our attitude, and our neutrality will cease to be a subject of anti-Irish propaganda.”

De Valera here correctly states that as long as there is the presence of a mature nation that does not get wrapped up in war, the rest of the worlds people will measure the futility of war against the obviously more beneficial stance of neutrality and soften to it. Dare I say it, Dev seems to hold the belief here that other Nations would be inspired by us and their people would begin to yearn for anti-war social contracts. His hope is that Ireland would become a calming force on a world hell bent on killing itself. He wanted to civilise international affairs. He wanted all nations to be equal and criticised the UN ( yet to be formally named ) for allowing Russia to hold the right to aggressive action. He referred to Communist Russia as a menace but so too identified the US and the UK as threats to Ireland in terms of gaining our full support and or absorbing us into them. In that speech referenced above, De Valera perfectly predicts todays Triple lock situation and the US and UK attempts to absorb Ireland. A startling read.

The common Irish value of neutrality has passed down to us through two or three generations, not because we all see Dev as an infallible genius or some unifying force, but because this particular concept he introduced to Irish politics during and post WW2 was actually good. It is tailor made for the Irish disposition. So too have the ideas of Connolly and others who spoke of the exploitation of the working class by the imperialists during war time. In October 1914, Connolly assumed the presidency of the Irish Neutrality League (chairing a committee that included Arthur Griffith, Constance Markievicz and Francis Sheehy-Skeffington). Here we see the full suite of Irish nationalism and socialism unified in a singular stance of neutrality. They sat together and campaigned on the issue together. Like many other issues I have spoken on such as sovereignty, unity etc. the issue neutrality is itself a matter of tradition that requires cross political communication. We need to leave the culture war behind. pivot with the times as Ireland’s needs require us to. There are people who lived before Dev, before Connolly, Griffith et al who inspired them. Before them again there were others. I am inspired by these people who I am fortunate enough to have knowledge of. Their actions and legacy are enough to provoke me into action and to make the effort to go outside my comfort zone. I believe it is our duty to gather the nation free of political specialisation and march together for neutrality. A referendum would be the correct messaging but I am open to discussion. If not in actual passing but in the campaign itself to achieve it our message might ring home hard enough to rattle them. The neo liberal, globalist “centre” would be terrified at the sight of right and left marching together. Far left, Communist, Tankie, Vatnik, Nationalist, Far right… all labels of the globalist centre who want our sons for war and for Irelands activists to see each other as foes. We are not entirely, Not on this issue at least. This is not fanciful stuff. Lots of people are willing to do it and value neutrality more than adolescent “the left have nits” type shite talk on 4-chan. Tricolours and starry ploughs lining O’Connell Street is a sight that we all need to see again in this country and with The Defence (Amendment) Bill coming in front of the Dail on Tuesday, now is the time to shift into that mentality.