Those of us who have long opposed Ireland’s “Triple Lock” have generally been baffled by those who support it. One can, of course, favour neutrality without the existence of a Triple Lock. But it seems to me to be a much harder prospect to call yourself an Irish Nationalist while fervently trying to preserve His Britannic Majesty’s veto over where the Irish Government deploys its soldiers.
As arguments go, the Government has the better of this one. The UN, in an increasingly fractured world, has not approved a new peacekeeping mission, anywhere in the world, for twelve long years. The prospect of future UN agreement on such missions is remote, given the tripartite polarisation between the Sino-Russian, Anglo-French, and American wings of the UN Security Council. Getting those five countries to agree on anything these days, especially where military deployments are concerned, is a fool’s errand.
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