You know that our country is in a bad position when we’re in the midst of a major crisis, and the people in charge think that key words mean the precise opposite of what they actually mean.
This week, amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, Defence Minister Simon Coveney decided to tell the Dáil his personal definition of neutrality: militarily supporting one army over another during a war that doesn’t involve us.
Simon Coveney attempts to redefine the very meaning of the word "neutrality" in order to justify his unilateral decision to end Ireland's long standing position of military non-involvement. pic.twitter.com/bmc5mI1H6v
— JRD (@JRD0000) March 10, 2022
The comment was made in response to Sinn Féin TD John Brady, who correctly informed Coveney that “If Ireland is neutral, then neutral means neutral against all countries and their militaries” – a succinct and reasonable description if ever there was one.
Coveney, however, replied that “Neutrality does not mean we stay out of these debates.”
“Deputy Brady has just said that neutrality means against all countries and against their militaries, equating the UK, the US, and Russia as if they were all in the same space. That is not neutrality to me, just to be clear.”
He continued:
“Neutrality and military non-alignment to me mean that Ireland decides when and where we intervene, who we partner with, and what side we take on debates and in conflicts and so on. We decide and we are not tied into those positions by alliances we have signed up to. That is what non-alignment and military neutrality is for me.”
It should be noted that being able to choose which battles you fight in has absolutely nothing, at all, to do with neutrality. That would be “sovereignty” that Coveney is thinking of.
Switzerland is free to choose its battles and has no military alliances – it’s also neutral. They’re two separate ideas. This is just a fundamental misunderstanding of the basic vocabulary of statecraft by a government minister.
If you were in a debate where the moderator was blatantly biased in favour of your opponent, and you called him out on his lack of neutrality, and he said “Well I am neutral, because I was free to pick which side I was going to support and I chose him,” would anyone take such an answer seriously? It’s clearly preposterous.
Coveney went on to stress that we are explicitly and unambiguously taking sides in this conflict militarily:
“On the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we are not neutral. We have made it very clear we are taking sides here, from a humanitarian point of view and from a military support point of view, to allow Ukrainians to defend themselves, as best we can. Ireland is making a modest contribution towards those efforts. It is important to put some of those issues on the record.”
Of course, Ireland has already sent military equipment to Ukraine, and members of Coveney’s party have been urging the government to send anti-tank devices and other lethal weapons as well.
Ireland could send 60 of these to #Ukraine this week. Ireland should send them this week. https://t.co/C0kaYclXbg
— Neale Richmond (@nealerichmond) March 2, 2022
So to be clear, according to Ireland’s Defence Minister, neutrality means militarily supporting one army over another during a foreign war.
That’s pretty interesting, considering the fact that Oxford dictionary defines neutrality as “not supporting or helping either side in a conflict, disagreement, etc.; impartiality.”
So Coveney’s personal definition is literally the 180 degree exact opposite of the actual textbook definition – as in, it’s objectively tripe.
In 2019, Coveney spearheaded a push in the Dáil to block a bill which would have enshrined Irish neutrality in the Constitution. Which makes a lot more sense now in hindsight.
Government rejects Bill enshrining Ireland’s neutrality https://t.co/fUmcdYz0OU via @IrishTimesPol
— Irish Times Politics (@IrishTimesPol) April 10, 2019
Notably, when Ireland joined PESCO, Malta, which is also neutral, declined to join, saying they would wait and see what it developed into rather than finding themselves signed up to something which compromised their neutrality.
Malta to ‘wait and see’ before deciding on PESCO defence pact, Muscat says https://t.co/09ZmKuRiM3 pic.twitter.com/5sGmQ4GINu
— MaltaToday (@maltatoday) December 15, 2017
Apparently our leaders did not have any such concerns and couldn’t get the ink on the paper fast enough, rushing head first into the agreement.
Now that we know they clearly do not understand these fundamental concepts, it kind of casts a different light on their assurances that PESCO won’t infringe our neutrality. How can they say that, when they evidently don’t even know what neutrality means?
@GolmudYeti militarily non-alignment allows us to be neutral peacekeepers, we work with other entities but r not compromised by membership
— Simon Coveney (@simoncoveney) August 12, 2015
Of all the brazen attempts to redefine a word ad hoc for political gain, this has got to be up there as one of the most ridiculous.