Irish Dáil votes 79 to 71 to drop UN approval for troop deployments

The vote on Wednesday

The Dáil voted 79 to 71 on Wednesday, 21 October, to pass a Defence (Amendment) Bill that removes the UN approval step from the triple lock. The bill then moved to committee stage after a debate that Irish Independent put at three and a half hours. Irish Times described the second-stage debate as guillotined to under four hours, and the Opposition said the cut-off had shut down scrutiny.

In favour79

Against71

In favour

79 votes

Against

71 votes

Data from the article text

What the bill changes

Under the current rules, a Government decision, Dáil approval and a UN mandate are all required before more than 12 Defence Forces personnel can be sent overseas on a mission. The bill keeps the Government and Dáil steps but drops the UN requirement, and it would raise the number deployable without parliamentary approval from 12 to 50. Defence Minister Helen McEntee argued that the five permanent Security Council members, which she named as Russia, China, France, the United States and the United Kingdom, could each block Irish deployments. She told the Dáil that this arrangement was wrong.

“that another country, that five countries across the world, can have any say in where we send our troops is absolutely crazy, and we need to change this.”

The Government says the Security Council has not approved a mission since 2014 and that Irish forces have already had to pull out of Operation Irini and UNIFIL. With the UNIFIL mission in Lebanon ending later this year, the Government argues that Irish peacekeeping in the region will end if the current system stays in place. Ireland is not a NATO member, and its defence force numbers a little over 8,000 people.

Current limit12

Proposed limit50

Current limit

12 personnel

Proposed limit

50 personnel

Data from the article text

Opposition and neutrality

Sinn Féin, the Green Party, Independent Ireland, People Before Profit and the Social Democrats all argued against the change, and most of their case centred on neutrality. Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald accused the Government of dismantling essential safeguards and of opening the way to closer military alignment with NATO. Green Party leader Roderic O'Gorman said the change was not a minor technical amendment but removed a core plank of Irish defence policy that had stood for decades. Paul Murphy of People Before Profit called concerns about the Security Council a red herring, noting that the bill also allows a mandate from the UN General Assembly. Independent Ireland TD Michael Fitzmaurice said Ireland relies on others for defence and asked who was calling the shots.

McDonald called for a referendum and urged the Taoiseach to let voters decide the question.

“Let the people vote on this, because anything else is a profound betrayal by your Government.”

Taoiseach and Government response

Taoiseach Micheál Martin rejected the opposition's account and said the reform was about keeping Irish peacekeeping alive and preserving an independent foreign policy. He accused McDonald and Paul Murphy of being disingenuous and noted that Russia holds a permanent Security Council seat despite its invasion of Ukraine. On Tuesday, 20 October, exchanges turned bitter after Martin gave Sinn Féin a history lesson, and he later accused the party of having supported Nazism during the Second World War, a charge Sinn Féin's Eoin Ó Broin called an outrageous slur.

“The UN Security Council is no longer functional; it's paralysed.”

Martin and McEntee both said no referendum is needed because the change does not alter the Constitution. McEntee argued that writing such a rule into the Constitution would make it harder for Ireland to respond to a changing world and to work with partners in the EU or beyond. She added that TDs would have a say as the legislation passes through the Dáil.