Tipperary TD Mattie McGrath, is calling for an upcoming Government Forum on Ireland’s neutrality to be abandoned and is accusing the government of placing the country’s neutral position in peril.
The Forum is to run for 4 days and begins tomorrow. Deputy McGrath says President Michael D Higgins’ comments on Ireland’s precarious foreign policy ‘drift’ should have been welcomed in any functioning democracy. The leader of the Rural Independents expressed strong scepticism towards the government’s claims that the forum aims to foster national discussions on foreign, security, and defence policy. He denounced the forum for lacking transparency and intentionally excluding genuine public participation.
During an exchange with the Taoiseach Deputy McGrath says the Dáil is the place for Ireland’s neutrality to be discussed. The Taoiseach offered to allow Dáil time to debate the report from the Forum. Mr Veradkar also indicated that opposition TDs have been invited to the Forum. Sinn Fein accused the Taoiseach of misrepresenting the situation saying being invited to listen is not the same as being invite to speak at the Forum.
Deputy Mattie McGrath says the choice of Dame Louise Richardson as the chair of the forum strongly insinuates that the Government covertly seeks to divert Ireland away from neutrality towards closer ties with NATO and the EU militarization project.
Full details of the Forum can be found here.
