The Aontú rally for Peace and Neutrality to protect the Triple Lock will take place this Wednesday 9th April at 6pm outside the Dáil on Kildare Street.
Speaking in advance of the rally, party leader Peadar Tóibín TD said:
“When small countries align with military blocks, they have very little influence over the decisions of those military blocks but still must send their sons and daughters to war zones. Deletion of the Tripple Lock would be a bad move for Ireland. A key safeguard of Irish neutrality is the triple lock. The triple lock by definition prevents Ireland from being militarily aligned to any military block. The triple lock gives our troops the legitimacy of UN authority in peacekeeping”.
“We know that EU hawks have being pushing hard for the development of an EU Defence Union and ultimately an EU army. The Government are seeking to delete the triple lock. Micheál Martin has agreed to changes in EU treaty decision making which include defence, military and security. This would significantly dilute Ireland’s say in future in these areas. The Tánaiste supports the deployment of Irish troops to future EU military missions. And to top all of this the government seeks to supply military aid, albeit non-lethal aid to Ukraine. It’s hard to believe the speed of change to military alignment by this government. It’s quite shocking and it’s against the wishes of the Irish people”.
“Opinion polling has shown overwhelming public support for Irish neutrality and the triple lock. Let’s be clear—if the government succeeds in dismantling the triple lock and engaging in geopolitics with military input, Irish men and women will be sent abroad to fight in foreign battlefields. The government must abandon this relentless undermining of our neutrality and its desire to play with the big boys of Europe at the expense of the men and women of our defence forces and their families. Our rally on Wednesday will hear from guest speakers and politicians, we need to send a clear message to the government that we value neutrality, we urge as many people as possible to join with us outside the Dáil at 6pm this Wednesday”, concluded Tóibín.
