LAST WEEK, IRELAND voted in favour of joining two new projects run by PESCO, the EU’s Permanent Structured Cooperation organisation, causing controversy among some that claimed the projects involve committing Irish troops to fight abroad. Every EU member state, aside from Malta, is a member of PESCO, which aims to provide a structure for EU member states to “jointly plan, develop and invest in shared capability projects, and enhance the operational readiness and contribution of their armed forces”, though this largely focuses on joint procurement of equipment. Ireland has been since getting Dáil approval in December 2017, and each one is entirely voluntary.
“Another knife in the back of Irish neutrality as Dail votes to join EU military operations as part of the PESCO deal,” one post shared hundreds of times on Facebook read. “It won’t be Michael Martin or Simon Harris who sends their kids off to fight for German and French bankers. It’ll be workers who suffer.
” The same account later posted that the vote was “FF FG Green handing us over to EU NATO army!” Some similar objections were also aired in the Dáil during a debate on these projects, though in more sophisticated terms. “The Government needs to answer a simple question in a convincing fashion,” last Wednesday. “Is our growing involvement with PESCO activities anchored in a clear vision of Ireland’s military neutrality or is it simply a pathway to participation in collective European def.
