Green Party in favour of removing Triple Lock despite internal calls for 'caution'

MEP Ciaran Cuffe pictured with Eamon Ryan

THE GREEN PARTY has supported plans brought to Cabinet today to scrap the triple lock on Irish military operations despite calls from within the party for caution.

Tánaiste Micheál Martin received Cabinet sign-off today to proceed with legislation that will change how Ireland deploys the Defence Forces on peacekeeping missions overseas.

The legislation, once enacted, will essentially remove the veto power of UN Security Council members over Ireland’s overseas engagements.

In November of last year, a statement from the Green Party stated that it supported proposals to amend the triple lock.

However, the statement referred back to a decision by the party’s policy council earlier in the year that advocated for a regional organisation such as the UN, EU or African Union to play a role in the deployment for peacekeeping.

The legislation being advanced by the Tánaiste today will have no such stipulation and will instead allow for Irish troops to be sent overseas solely via a national decision-making process.

A spokesperson for the Tánaiste has said however that the proposed legislation would remain fully consistent with the principles of the UN Charter and international law.

Green Party MEP Ciaran Cuffe today urged caution with the legislation and suggested that the triple lock amendments proposed by the Green Party be considered in the drafting process.

“The Green Party has put forward a sensible proposal to update, not scrap, the triple lock, that will better equip our Defence Forces to respond to calls for peacekeeping and protect our neutrality policy.

“Under this proposal, any deployment for peacekeeping should be approved by the Dáil, reviewed by the Seanad, and supported by a UN (Security Council or General Assembly) resolution or, failing such a resolution, by a decision of a regional organisation which adheres to the UN Charter.

“It is a sound and carefully constructed proposal which should be on the table when any changes to the triple lock are discussed by the Government,” Cuffe said in a statement.

However a spokesperson for the Green Party today appeared to disagree with Cuffe’s position and said the Green Party is fully supportive of the legislation proposed by Micheál Martin.

The spokesperson denied that this was a change of policy for the Green Party and said the Tánaiste’s proposals are “very much in keeping” with what the Green Party wanted to see.

A spokesperson for the Tánaiste said the legislation, which will now be worked on, will still need to be grounded in the UN charter and international law – and this could be an EU or African Union mission for example.