Category Archives: Irish Neutrality

Solidarity with the Palestinian people (1 of 3) – the Irish State

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Richard Boyd Barrett asked the Taoiseach “is that where we’re headed” when he recounted the arrest of fourteen women from Mothers Against Genocide during their peaceful protest outside the Dáil on Mothers’ Day.

The right answer is yes and no.  Yes, we are heading towards a more repressive state and no, because we have been heading along this road for some time.  What has changed is the decision of the Irish state that it needs to abandon its appearance of some sort of neutrality, and defender of at least the appearance of international legality, and sign up to membership of NATO.

It’s difficult to sell the legitimacy of the state on current grounds when it has steadfastly refused to do anything meaningful to oppose genocide in Gaza.  It becomes impossible when it explicitly permits the use of Irish air space to transfer the weapons by which genocide is carried out, from the US to Israel.  Up until now it had appeared that the state had simply turned a blind eye to such flights while The Irish Times has now revealed that it has explicitly approved them.

The idea that the state is a leading defender of Palestinian rights is consequently as dead as a Dodo and the foot dragging on implementing the Occupied Territories Bill has become the least of the proof.  The decision of the new government to endorse the IHRA definition of antisemitism only makes sense in order to defend the Zionist state and to develop cover to those who defend and support its mass murder. The Irish state has already gone beyond both of these and is now revealed to be up to its neck in complicity with it.

Irish neutrality is a myth, as we have argued before (here, here and here), but it has involved constraints on its collaboration with NATO.  Now the state has decided that the drive towards war by the US and rest of Europe leaves it exposed just when it already faces severe threats to its economic role as a tax haven and general platform for US multinationals.  Pissing off Trump and the rest of the supporters of Zionism in the US is not going to help any special pleading it might want to make nor engender sympathy with the rest of the EU that backs genocide to the hilt.

Within this context, the attack on Palestine solidarity protests and signing up to defend the Zionist state makes perfect sense.  What doesn’t make any sense is to base a solidarity campaign on persuading this state to defend Palestinian rights, which is what the present campaign has been doing.  Repeated calls for the state to do this or that, pass the Occupied Territories Bill or new Air Navigation and Transport (Arms Embargo) Bill, has to ignore the determination of the state not to do anything like this.  

Instead, official Ireland has sought to protect itself by recognising the Palestinian state, which most countries have done to no effect, and intervene in the International Court of Justice case brought by South Africa, which also has little effect.  Of course, this has still upset the rabid Israeli regime despite secret calls from the Irish government that nothing is meant by such actions.  Meanwhile the Irish Central Bank helps Israel finance its genocide.

A solidarity campaign based on moral appeals to the amoral or to International law that Western imperialist powers decide to accept or reject as it suits, is to already accept hypocrisy as sincerity, imperialist actions as simply mistakes, and imperialism itself as capable of taking a progressive course.  It is fine to point out the hypocrisy, the real policy, and the nature of Irish state collaboration with imperialism, but it is simply foolish and futile to expect that anything meaningful will be achieved by this alone.

The picket at the trade union conference in Belfast, picked up by this Zionist news outlet, shows the beginnings of awareness that it is not enough for trade union figures to make fine speeches at demonstrations and demand that others, especially the government, take action, but that the trade unions themselves should take action and the campaign should focus on them and speak directly to workers.

It might appear that the widespread sympathy for the plight of the Palestinian people is a strong basis on which to force effective solidarity but the ability of the new government to ignore international law, stymie its own minimalist legislation, and go on the offensive to protect Zionism is all evidence of the limits of such popular opinion.

The general lack of understanding of the reasons for the genocide and the ability of the Zionist state to act with impunity is a result of the failure to appreciate the nature and current role of imperialism.  This can be seen in the acceptance of Irish sanctions against Russia and support for the US, EU and Britain in provoking and continuing the war in Ukraine.  In a world in which imperialism can ‘do the right thing’ in Ukraine, the possibility of persuading it to do the same in Gaza can appear as a reasonable possibility.

Only by rejecting the war in Ukraine as the product of inter-imperialist rivalry, as the result partly of deliberate US provocation, and acceptance of it as essentially an imperialist proxy war, with the Ukrainian state as the willing proxy, is it possible to see the perfect consistency of US, EU and British actions in both Palestine and Ukraine.  Unfortunately, much of the Irish left, just like the British, has capitulated and supported Western imperialism through its Ukrainian proxy.

The latest revelations of the major role of the US in the war, published by the New York Times, should leave no one able to claim the innocence – never mind progressiveness – of its role, or the claim that this is something other than an imperialist war.  To continue to do so is to wilfully ignore the evidence or make an unconscious claim to stupidity.  Absent both, the real condemnation is of the rotten politics of most of the Irish and British left.

For those in Ireland, the relationship between imperialism in Palestine and imperialism in Ukraine is bound up with the attempt by the state to dissolve the pretence of neutrality – as a stepping stone to open NATO membership as a junior component of the Western imperialist alliance.  It is the responsibility of socialists to explain this and to point the campaign towards the action of the working class as the mechanism to enforce effective solidarity.

Forward to part 2

Bourgeois democracy in Ireland in two Acts (1) – supporting the Palestinians

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In June the Taoiseach Simon Harris assured the Dáil that “no airport in Ireland or Irish sovereign airspace is being used to transport weapons to the conflict in the Middle East or any other war”.  The Ditch web site in September began reporting that nine such flights had been made to Israel, although the site reported that there were, and no doubt still are, many more.  It noted that ‘Carrying munitions of war through Irish airspace without permission from the minister for transport is a criminal offence punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment.’   

Harris stated in June that “In relation to the overflights, the Government of Ireland has never provided any permission for such an overflight to take place in terms of carrying munitions and therefore the Government wouldn’t have been in a position to inform the Dáil of such a flight. That position is quite clear,” which means that unless the Government expressly permits the law to be broken, it hasn’t been.  It would appear that it is only broken when it has been admitted but since the Government is never going to ask to inspect aircraft overflying or landing, it is never going to be admitted, and we just have to accept that the law has not been broken and Irish neutrality policy has not been breached.

In response to the evidence that neither of these things are true the Government has called an investigation into its own actions, as if it doesn’t know what it has been doing. Meanwhile Harris accused his critic, Sinn Fein’s Mary Lou McDonald, of “misleading people” and of trying to “muddy the waters”, which would make more sense if it was self-criticism.

The Green Party Minister of Transport has claimed that “no airport in Ireland, or Irish sovereign airspace, has been used to transport weapons directly to Israel” while he has also claimed that he supports new legislation that would allow random checks.  The sponsors of separate legislation have pointed out that the government already has powers to carry out checks but it isn’t using them, while it’s opposing their own proposals. The Minister has promised to “sit down with my officials and with legal experts over the coming months to make sure that new legislation is developed that is watertight, is workable, and is compliant with international aviation law.” Sitting for months is as near an honest admission of what action it will take as the government is likely to provide.

The prospects of any further Government legislation that would be implemented can be gauged by the fate of the Occupied Territories Bill, which would ban and criminalise “trade with and economic support for illegal settlements in territories deemed occupied under international law”, most notably Israeli settlements in the occupied territories.

This was passed in both Houses of the Oireachtas but has been stymied for four years, with yet another statement by Harris that he would seek “fresh legal advice” to extend the never ending delay.  The message is that a majority in the legislature can vote for something that is undoubtedly approved by the majority of the people but this doesn’t mean the Government will do anything to implement it.  The Ditch again explained the precise mechanism employed in this particular case, one of the many in bourgeois democracies to ensure that what democracy there is is suited only for the bourgeoisie:

‘On 25 February, 2019 Hadie Cohen from the Israeli Ministry of Justice emailed colleagues.’

‘Cohen referred to a “confidential call” (emphasis Cohen’s own) with Paschal Donohoe. Cohen said Donohoe told Israeli finance minister Moshe Kahlon that the Irish government would “block” the bill.’

“We understand that during a confidential call on 13 February between the Irish Minister of Finance and his Israeli counterpart, the Irish minister confirmed that the Irish government will be using a procedure known as “money message” to seek to block the progress of the draft Irish legislation criminalising dealings with products and services from the settlements – the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill 2018,” wrote Cohen.’

‘The “money message” was invoked by ‘then foreign minister SImon Coveny [who] said government would invoke article 17.2 of the constitution . . . Coveney said government had to do this, not to frustrate the democratic process as critics of the money message argue, but because government’s “view is that additional costs will also arise from voted funds for certain Irish diplomatic missions abroad should this bill be enacted. I should state clearly at this point that because of these costs across a wide range of areas, there can be no doubt that the bill will require a money message to proceed to committee stage.” More sitting down with legal experts perhaps to ensure nothing is done.

Paschal Donohoe has denied this call but only in the sort of non-denial denial manner, similar to the non-apology apology.  What all this demonstrates is that the Irish State is no different from every other capitalist state, which are committees to run the affairs of the bourgeoisie that inevitably involve conspiracies to lie to their own people.

The Irish State joins with the others in the West in having its fingerprints all over genocide in Palestine, laced with its own particular flavour of hypocrisy, all the more disgusting because it pretends to be the very opposite if what it claims – to be in support of the Palestinian people based on its own experience of colonialism. Its reputation as an ally of the Palestinian people is exposed as a fraud and its public spats with Israel a piece of theatre.

Given this exposure of gross hypocrisy we can clearly see the futility of repeated petitions and demands by many on the left that the Irish state take action against Israel in order to help bring an end to the genocide. It is simply not in its interest to do so. The state is in hock to US multinationals, something referenced every day in the media reports of the increase in corporation taxes received from them. When it looks like some gesture might be made the US has ensured that its client Israel is protected and the Irish told what it cannot do.

The only force in Ireland with the capacity to prevent the transportation of weapons, and this itself is limited, are Irish workers, but pointed questions, petitions and criticism is never levelled by the likes of People before Profit at the trade union leaders who refuse to organise and advocate such action. The various mechanisms employed by the state to avoid taking action will not be changed by speeches in the Dáil. Action must be taken outside it, advocated and encouraged through speeches at meetings and in workplaces of those we want to take the necessary direct action; against the wishes of the government and state and the genocidal governments it stands in support of.

Workers’ democracy is the alternative to the conspiracy and lies of bourgeois democracy, and no matter how weak workers’ democracy is, it is much, much stronger than reliance on the bourgeois kind.

Forward to part 2

Trusting the State (4) – Irish ‘neutrality’

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The neutrality of the Irish state, that most of its people support, is a myth.  The Irish government has repeatedly stated that the state is militarily neutral but not politically.  Since its armed forces are tiny it might be said that its military neutrality doesn’t matter but its politics does.  It is also often said that its policy of neutrality is whatever its government decides it is.

Already the so-called policy of neutrality is variously referred to as ‘not clear’ and ‘flexible’, while the anti-communism of the cold war period was clear, and before that its neutrality in the Second World War was flexible in favour of the Allied powers.  Before that, the sympathies of Catholic Ireland with the nationalist and fascist forces of Franco was widespread.

At the minute the Government hides behind a ‘triple lock’ which mandates that more than twelve members of the armed forces can be sent overseas on operations only if the operation has been approved by the UN, the Government, and a resolution of Dáil Éireann.  It is now complaining about “the illegal and brutal full scale invasion of Ukraine by a permanent member of the UN Security Council”, and that because of the Russian and Chinese veto on the Council no sanction on Russia can be approved.  No such calls were made when the US or British engaged in recent “illegal and brutal” invasions, and the contrast with the approach of other countries such as India and South Africa at the recent G20 meeting is glaring.

The political practice of the Irish state has been to allow US troops to stop-over at Shannon airport on their way to its various wars and to have a deal with the British Royal Air Force to police its airspace. It has refused to assert its sovereignty by checking suspected US rendition flights and has always made clear its support for ‘the West’.  To think that a state so dependent on US investment and financial flows, plus its integration into the European Union, would be in any meaningful way neutral in the conflicts these various states are involved in is for the birds.

The claim to any sort of neutrality is not only bogus but also hypocritical and malevolent.  Hypocritical, because in the Irish State’s recent application to join the UN Security Council it made much of its non-membership of NATO while flying kites domestically in order to facilitate the first steps to joining it.  Leo Varadkar stated that trading on its former status as a colony had helped it gather support for Ukraine and oppose ‘Russian imperialism’.  The level of hypocrisy would be astonishing were it not so common; it claimed its privileged victim status in alliance with all the Western powers that are members of NATO, are former colonial powers, and currently comprise the biggest imperialist alliance in the world. All very ‘anti-imperialist’.

It is malevolent because it has combined lying with efforts to support the war in as strong a way as it can, without eliciting opposition from its own people.  So, it has ignored its own housing and homeless problem by welcoming one of the highest levels of Ukrainian refugees in order to demonstrate its political support.  Should anyone fall for the idea that this is the expression of some sort of (welcome) humanitarian concern, the previous and continuing policy on asylum seekers of direct provision should be noted, as should the second class status applied to refugees who aren’t Ukrainian.  Even with regard to Ukrainian refugees, Varadkar has made it clear on a number of occasions that while the door is open there’s nowhere to stay: the not so subtle message is ‘stay away’.

Implementation of the welcome has therefore stumbled from crisis measure to crisis measure with an eagerness the state did not previously display.  The self-image of ‘Cead Mile fáilte’ (“a hundred thousand welcomes”) does not withstand historical examination, including the referendum on the right of children born in Ireland to citizenship, which was targeted at excluding the children of non-EU nationals born in the Irish State.

The recent government sponsored ‘Consultative Forum on International Security Policy’, which was no more than an obvious attempt to advance the cause of NATO membership, majored on the threats to Irish security, while commentary has often focused on the vulnerability of undersea cabling off the Irish coast linking the US to Europe.  No one was so impolitic at this Forum to mention the threat to underwater infrastructure from the Americans, responsible for blowing up the new Nordstream gas pipeline to Germany.

The deceitful nature of the Forum was indirectly exposed by the Dame of the British Empire who was invited to oversee the proceedings.  She remarked that “I really don’t know any other country where they’ve done something like this, really tried to engage the entire population in an open conversation about a county’s role in the world, – national security is variably restricted to small groups of senior officials and decision makers.”

In fact, the Irish State is no different in this respect from other capitalist states, as the example of US military flights through Shannon airport demonstrates, and now the support given to Ukraine.  The Forum was not an exercise in conversing with the people of Ireland but an occasion to lecture them about the necessity to get on board with the rest of the West, led by the US, in its increasing polarisation of the world and aggression against its competitors – Russia and China.

The Irish government claimed that its support for Ukraine was only going to involve provision of ‘non-lethal’ training to its armed forces, which included training in clearing mines and equipping it with two de-mining vehicles. Its ministers repeatedly emphasised the humanitarian nature of the training being provided. This claim was already something of a joke, given that clearing minefields was a crucial element of the Ukrainian offensive in which its armed forces have been thrown into a headlong assault against long-prepared Russian defences, only to be slaughtered in their tens of thousands.  All for the sake of complying with the United States and the Zelensky regime, with the miserable result of the uncertain capture of small settlements that have been utterly destroyed in the process. Lives exchanged for a few kilometres of bloody ruins.

The revelation that the ‘non-lethal’ training also includes weapons training and military tactics has exposed the government as liars.  Even the correspondent from the rabidly pro-war ‘Irish Times’ was compelled to admit that this was ‘a significant departure from the Government’s public position that Ireland is providing only non-lethal support.  Weapons training was not included in public announcements by the Government of the Defence Forces participation in the EU training mission. It contrasts with a statement by Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin earlier this year that the training would be in “non-lethal” areas.’

There was no reference to weapons training in any Government statements in the Dáil during debates on Irish involvement, yet in July the Cabinet had authorised this extension of support.  Just like other capitalist states, in Ireland “national security is variably restricted to small groups of senior officials and decision makers.”  The policy of neutrality is indeed whatever the government decides it is.  

The Department of Defence stated that the training presented “no conflict” with Irish military neutrality and denied any attempt to mislead the public on the nature of the training. It also said the training previously announced, which did not include any mention of weapons training, “was always intended to be indicative rather than exhaustive”.  It was, it said, only a “modest step-up”.  

What this “modest step-up” demonstrates is that the Irish State, through its participation in the EU’s Military Assistance Mission Ukraine (Eumam), is participating in a proxy war against Russia. It therefore also appropriates its own share of responsibility for its horrific results.

Back to part 3