Cork City Council opposes removal of Triple Lock following a vote
Cork City Council has said it opposes any proposals on the part of the Irish government to remove the Triple Lock, and that it calls for a referendum “before any changes are made to Ireland’s neutrality provisions”.
The motion, proposed by Solidarity Cllr Brian McCarthy, was passed at the latest full meeting of the council on Monday 8 June.
It was approved by a vote of 25 for, 7 against, and 1 abstention.
The motion noted the Government’s intention to remove the Triple Lock mechanism from Irish law, and that this was opposed consistently by approximately 75% of Irish people. It also noted that the Triple Lock was cited as “a key guarantee of Irish neutrality during both the Nice Treaty (2002) and Lisbon Treaty (2009) referendum campaigns and that removal of the Triple Lock would be a fundamental undermining of Irish neutrality”.
The Triple Lock mechanism requires any Irish military deployments of more than 12 personnel requires UN, Government, and Dáil approval.
The Government has said the veto power of the UN Security Council means Ireland does not have enough control over the deployment of its military.
In February, Minister for Defence Helen McEntee said the legislation currently in place “allows any of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, by means of a veto or, indeed, threat of veto, to bind this country's hands in its international peacekeeping engagement.
“We should not and cannot tolerate that,” she said.
Cork City is the latest council to pass a motion opposing the Triple Lock's removal.
Similar motions have been passed in Cavan, Donegal, Dublin City, Dublin South, Galway City, Limerick, Louth, Mayo, Waterford, and Wexford. Motions have also been passed by the Derry-Strabane and Mid-Ulster councils in Northern Ireland.
Councillors also highlighted the issues currently around investment in the Defence Forces.
Cllrs Oliver Moran (GP) and Shane O’Callaghan (FG) said they supported retaining the Triple Lock, but that the ability of the Defence Forces to defend Ireland must be improved.
“I don’t believe any of our partners in the European Union are demanding that we drop the Triple Lock, what they’re asking for is that we can defend our own country, not other countries. Which we can’t,” said Cllr Moran.
The Defence Amendment Bill, which removes the requirement of a UN mandate for overseas missions, received cabinet approval on Tuesday 9 June. It will now go before the Oireachtas.
This article was produced with the support of the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme funded by Coimisiún na Meán.