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6th November 2002
Irish attendance at NATO meeting "a shame and a disgrace" - Ó Caoláin
The leader of the Sinn Fein group in the Dáil, Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin TD, has condemned the Government's decision to send representatives to the next NATO Summit in Prague later this month.
Speaking in the Dáil debate on the recent Brussels EU summit, Deputy Ó Caoláin said:
"We learned yesterday that for the first time ever this State is to be represented at a NATO summit where the Minister for Foreign Affairs will lead a high-level delegation. This is a shame and a disgrace. The Department of Foreign Affairs must take the Irish people for fools if they expect them to accept their explanation that the Minister is not really attending a NATO meeting but a meeting of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership. The EAPC is meeting in the same building at the same time as the main NATO event and they will have shared meetings. The EAPC is the political wing of NATO's so-called Partnership for Peace. And the PfP is an integral part of NATO.
"Is it not time for the Government to end the charade and to admit that it no longer has a policy of military neutrality. It is quite pathetic for them to allow Shannon to be used by foreign powers as a military staging post and then to pretend that it is something quite normal which no-one should worry about. It is equally pathetic to have Ministers slinking in and out of NATO meetings, like the boys at the back of the chapel in days gone by."
Full text below - check against delivery:
"This is the first opportunity I have had to address EU Affairs in the House since the referendum. I want to commend the progressive parties, groups and individuals, including deputies here, who campaigned against the Treaty of Nice. Despite the onslaught of the entire establishment the 'No' vote held firm and just over 37% of voters were not prepared to be coerced into reversing their decision of last year. That very large section of the electorate includes people who normally vote for all parties in the Dáil. It is bad for democracy that their views are not properly reflected within the other political parties.
"The result of the referendum was disappointing and is, in our view, a setback for Irish sovereignty and neutrality and for the accountability of EU institutions. Unlike the Government and its allies, who dismissed the people's verdict on the last occasion, we accept it. But we will maintain continued vigilance against the growing inequality within the EU, a process Nice will accelerate.
"It has to be said that in no previous referendum did the print media, particularly the Irish Times and Irish Independent, display such blatant bias and lack of balance in their coverage. That is something that has major implications for democracy in this country. In contrast the broadcast media was, by and large, fair and balanced.
"The European Council meeting in Brussels saw the enlargement process move on, something that would have happened anyway, no matter what the referendum result here. I welcome the Brussels' summit endorsement of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Cyprus and Malta as ready to complete accession talks in December and to join the European Union in 2004. That accession must, of course, be subject to the approval of the people in each of those states.
"I believe it is very significant that, despite the endorsement of these ten states, there were sharp differences between them and the existing EU states on future funding. There are huge problems ahead, particularly in relation to the Common Agricultural Policy. This is something which has not been properly examined and debated in Ireland. There has been little examination of the long-term impact of the accession of tens of millions of farmers to the EU. There is little long-term planning about the future of farming in Ireland with its massive over-dependence on EU aid. The focus needs to shift to rural regeneration, the sustainable development of agriculture and the building of rural communities. That change must be driven from Ireland and from those communities.
"It is not realistic in the long term to sustain Irish agriculture and our diminishing rural communities on the basis of the Common Agricultural Policy. Yet it is the short-term view which predominates and we rarely look beyond the next meeting of EU Agriculture Ministers. The Irish Government does not appear to have any strategy to deal with Commissioner Fischler's CAP reform proposals other than to hope that the French will be able to veto any detrimental changes. That is not good enough.
"The Government and its supporters told us neutrality was not an issue in the referendum and that neutrality was not under threat. But look at what has happened in the days and weeks after the referendum. The Brussels European Council meeting accepted the text of a joint NATO-EU declaration whereby the EU Rapid Reaction Force will be funded by NATO. It mandated EU Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana to continue negotiations with NATO on this funding. The Brussels-approved text is to be discussed at the NATO Summit in Prague later this month.
"We learned yesterday that for the first time ever this State is to be represented at that NATO summit where the Minister for Foreign Affairs will lead a high-level delegation. This is a shame and a disgrace. The Department of Foreign Affairs must take the Irish people for fools if they expect them to accept their explanation that the Minister is not really attending a NATO meeting but a meeting of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership. The EAPC is meeting in the same building at the same time as the main NATO event and they will have shared meetings. The EAPC is the political wing of NATO's so-called Partnership for Peace. And the PfP is an integral part of NATO.
"Is it not time for the Government to end the charade and to admit that it no longer has a policy of military neutrality. It is quite pathetic for them to allow Shannon to be used by foreign powers as a military staging post and then to pretend that it is something quite normal which no-one should worry about. It is equally pathetic to have Ministers slinking in and out of NATO meetings, like the boys at the back of the chapel in days gone by.
"The dust has hardly settled on the Nice referendum and already this Government is breaking its commitment to honour Irish neutrality. In conclusion I want to call for an early debate in this House on the proposals for a draft EU Constitution which have emerged from the EU Convention. These proposals would pave the way for a fully fledged United States of Europe with a central government. They are outline proposals at present and there is clearly a huge divergence of opinion on their implications but now is the time they should be discussed here so that at the very earliest stage the representatives of the people have a full input into the process."
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