Minister dismisses Michael D Higgins’s claims of dishonesty over triple lock

The Government has intensified its defence of proposed changes to the triple lock. It has strongly rejected claims of dishonesty by former president Michael D Higgins and sharply criticised Opposition “misinformation”.

Minister of State for European Affairs Thomas Byrne dismissed Higgins’s assertion that the Government was being less than honest in not telling people that Ireland was sliding into preparatory, military alliances.

“That’s not correct,” Byrne said curtly. “It’s not correct to say that we’re being dishonest about this, and it’s not correct to say that we’re joining a military alliance. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth."

Byrne was responding on Tuesday to comments by Higgins last week, in which he said the removal of the triple lock would result in Ireland joining military alliances.

“We’re not joining any military alliance,” Byrne said. “The European Union is not a military alliance. It’s an alliance of peace and an alliance of economics for the prosperity of people.

“If the European Union were ever to decide to become a military alliance, our Constitution prevents us from joining it.

“We have no proposals to join Nato. What we’re trying to do here is to ensure that if the Irish Government and the Irish Dáil wants to send peacekeepers abroad, that we have the power to do that ourselves, and that we do it as part of an international operation, international force, and that could be with the UN.”

He said it could be with the EU or the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or another regional organisation.

“It’s similar to what neutral Austria and neutral Switzerland have,” he said.

Byrne’s comments follow a similar robust defence of the changes by Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Helen McEntee, who is on a visit to Lebanon to meet the Irish military battalion which is part of the last Unifil deployment. The mission in south Lebanon is coming to an end at the end of the year after almost 49 years.

The Minister of State, a TD for Meath East, also criticised what he said was “misinformation” from the Opposition during the second-stage debate in the Dáil of the Bill to end the triple lock.

He honed in on the contribution of Sinn Féin TD for Cavan-Monaghan Cathy Bennett. She said Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael in Government were trying to change the role of Irish troops from peacemakers to “conflict participants”.

Byrne described the remarks as a “new low”. He said Bennett’s comments were a complete misreading of the legislation, adding that the Bill referred specifically to only peacekeeping, peace enforcement, and conflict prevention.

Asked about disquiet expressed by some Fianna Fáil TDs about the removal of the United Nations from consideration, Byrne said the UN would still be part of the structure in the legislation.

“If someone wants to put forward an amendment to emphasise that, I certainly would have no difficulty with that,” he said.

“I do know that military families want their soldiers to continue peacekeeping. And remember, because of the triple lock, because of a veto of the UN Security Council, Irish peacekeeping is almost coming to an end at the end of this year. That’s a fact.

“Lebanon mission is ending because of a decision of the UN Security Council. So that’s the problem we’re trying to solve.”

Byrne was speaking to the media along with the leader of the Belarusian independent opposition, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, during a conference on Ireland-Belarus National Cultural Identities in Dublin.

While in Lebanon, McEntee has raised the case of murder victim Private Sean Rooney. She has done so with the Lebanese president, justice minister, and foreign minister. She reiterated the need for Pte Rooney’s killer to be arrested and brought to justice, and that the four other individuals implicated in his murder be further investigated.

She also highlighted that although Unifil is winding down, Ireland’s longstanding support for Lebanon will continue through ongoing humanitarian aid programmes and the Government’s intention to support a future mission in Lebanon.