Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

KFB

Dáil votes for Ireland to join Pesco EU military defence pact

The motion was passed by 75 votes to 42 and was supported by Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael.

THE DÁIL HAS voted to approve Ireland’s participation in Pesco – the EU’s permanent structured cooperation arrangement.

The motion was passed by 75 votes to 42. Both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael backed the motion.

TDs from numerous political parties recently raised concerns about the government trying to “ram” through a vote on Ireland joining the defence pact.

The plan raised concerns here that it could undermine Ireland’s policy of neutrality.

Some argue Pesco is the first step towards an EU army, with its proposals including inclusion in the European command centre, a network of logistic hubs across Europe and a creation of a European crisis response centre, as well as the joint training of military officers.

A heated debated on the issue kicked off earlier this week with news the government had planned a vote on the issue this week.

The government argued it must sign-up to the deal before an EU Council meeting of defence ministers taking place on 11 December.

However, parties such as Labour argued that this was not necessary and asked for the vote to be pushed back to 2018 so as to allow sufficient time to have a public debate on the issue and for the Oireachtas Defence Committee to have the opportunity to hear submissions from independent experts.

Wexford TD Mick Wallace said he was astonished at the video Europe is using to promote Pesco and was even more shocked that a small country like Ireland would consider signing up to it.

European External Action Service (EEAS) / YouTube

Meanwhile Solidarity-PBP member Richard Boyd Barrett accused the government of pulling a “fast one” with the vote today.

He said his party are considering taking a constitutional challenge against the government plan.

He said the government’s response to his criticisms were “the most cynical rubbish” he had ever heard. The Dun Laoghaire TD said this was exactly the move the Irish people were afraid of when they voted down the Lisbon Treaty the first time around.

He pointed to the European Commission’s own fact sheet on Pesco which states the difference between Pesco and other forms of cooperation is the “binding nature” of the commitments undertaken by participating member states.

The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar defended the government’s position stating that he wants Ireland to be involved in Pesco.

He said it is time that Europe stops relying on the US for its defence.

My view is that a Europe that is worth building is a Europe that is worth defending. For a very long time, all of Europe has relied on the United States to provide for its defence. There are real threats to European security and, over time, rather than relying on the United States to defend Europe and pay for European defence, Europe should provide and pay for its own defence and not be dependent on the United States in the way it has been since 1945.
That is what Pesco and European security and defence co-operation are all about. It is Europe starting to take responsibility for and control over its own defence, not relying on the United States in the way it has done until now.

Many TDs said that in years to come, today’s vote will be seen as Ireland’s first step towards the country’s role in a European defence strategy.

‘We’re being asked to sell out our neutrality’: Government accused of trying to rush EU defence deal vote>

Read: Taoiseach says Ireland will not be joining a European army>

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
194 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute kevin mc cormack
    Favourite kevin mc cormack
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 9:28 AM

    Is this what a CPO was meant for? I thought it was for infrastructure projects not vanity ones by a certain person in the council.

    204
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Irish Names
    Favourite Irish Names
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 11:40 AM

    @kevin mc cormack: CPO is a powerful tool that was meant to be used for very specific public projects like roads – now it’s being used to communise private property for all sorts of projects – it is due a retest in the Supreme Court / of course the council are banking on no one having the funds to challenge it.

    67
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Shawn O'Ceallaghan
    Favourite Shawn O'Ceallaghan
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 12:48 PM

    @kevin mc cormack: it can used for a number of reasons.

    20
    See 1 more reply ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Patricia O'Reilly
    Favourite Patricia O'Reilly
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 10:32 PM

    @kevin mc cormack: Dublin City council are just a bunch of ego’s. The betterment of the city is not on their agenda. The Abbey is indeed a credible venture but at what cost to housing and drugs and poverty in the city centre.. they have as always their priorities wrong.

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Valentine Kane
    Favourite Valentine Kane
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 9:59 AM

    And yet we cant do that to fix a housing crisis

    73
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute EillieEs
    Favourite EillieEs
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 10:51 AM

    @Valentine Kane: fixing the housing problem is a tad more complicated than slapping a CPO on a few buildings. It’s also down to national government and not council policy.

    33
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Valentine Kane
    Favourite Valentine Kane
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 7:26 PM

    @EillieEs: agreed sir, but there are thousands of houses standing idle that have not been lived in for years that could be purchased using a CPO but there is no will to do so, we have people dieing on the streets, in 3 months time we will be back into autumn and then winter.

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute HonDeDeise
    Favourite HonDeDeise
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 7:53 AM

    Good.

    66
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Garreth Byrne
    Favourite Garreth Byrne
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 8:17 AM

    Good thinking. The Abbey needs to expand and put more bums on seats.

    55
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Richard Right
    Favourite Richard Right
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 8:29 AM

    @Garreth Byrne: Hasn’t sold out in 18mths.

    70
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Craic_a_tower
    Favourite Craic_a_tower
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 9:13 AM

    @Richard Right: has it even been open? Have you ever been there?

    35
    See 3 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mr. G
    Favourite Mr. G
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 9:18 AM

    @Craic_a_tower:

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
    Favourite Fiona Fitzgerald
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 12:16 PM

    @Garreth Byrne: Yes, it’s good news. It’s been packed every time I went and no one wants to see run-down quays. I’ve always preferred the Peacock but if it’s crowded for the audience, it must be stifling backstage.

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gary Kearney
    Favourite Gary Kearney
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 12:19 PM

    @Fiona Fitzgerald: It is backstage in both venues is tight, very tight. It means that the shows do suffer. Cant use black stages all the time, sets and props etc can make or break a show.
    Cant use them properly if you have no room.

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rob Gale
    Favourite Rob Gale
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 9:36 AM

    Really good and surprising news. The first good thing DCC have done in eons. Wouldn’t be surprised if they unveiled it and it turned out to actually be a theatre themed hotel.

    39
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute William Tallon
    Favourite William Tallon
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 10:35 AM

    @Rob Gale: So when did providing drinking water for the city and treating and disposing of all that sewage on a daily basis stop being a good thing…

    26
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gary Kearney
    Favourite Gary Kearney
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 12:17 PM

    @Rob Gale: With a canoe course

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Thomas M Bourke
    Favourite Thomas M Bourke
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 12:29 PM

    So what are the business impacted.. here is a quick list while I’m waiting for my coffee to cool off a bit:

    18 Eden Quay is Tracey’s Pharmacy
    19 Eden Quay is Marian Pilgrimages/ Croatia Tours
    20 Eden Quay is (was?) a Hairdresser
    21 Eden Quay is a Hong Kong bakery and bubble tea shop – only opened in March :(
    24-26 Abbey Street Lower was Smyths Solicitors they moved pre pandemic (if I recall correctly) and the building now looks like a Goth’s delight with the amount of black paint
    20 Old Abbey Street appears to be Abbey Law Solicitors (although they should update the map on their website – Jimmy Chung’s has been gone for over a year now!)

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Fiona Fitzgerald
    Favourite Fiona Fitzgerald
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 2:56 PM

    @Thomas M Bourke: Best comment, actually listing what used to be there. If the whole front crumbled into the Liffey, there would still be people giving out, people who never go into town.

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paul
    Favourite Paul
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 8:09 AM

    Maybe consider converting some or part of the newly acquisitioned properties into apartments for staff

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Liam Collins
    Favourite Liam Collins
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 8:11 AM

    @Paul: why

    112
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute brefanlfc
    Favourite brefanlfc
    Report
    Jul 18th 2021, 5:34 PM

    @Liam Collins: Because he’s staff

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jimmy Jones
    Favourite Jimmy Jones
    Report
    Jul 19th 2021, 12:52 AM

    “The Abbey is the leaseholder for the abbey street buildings “
    I hate it when you get to the line in an article that should explain the central point in the article and the journalist has dozed off and used completely ambiguous wording. Sorry, but lazy is the only word that fits.

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Anthony Clark
    Favourite Anthony Clark
    Report
    Jul 19th 2021, 3:53 PM

    Thats a lot of buildings facing the liffey – some very nice ones too (like Eden House and some nice Georgean buildings)
    I hope they can keep as much of the old buildings and style as possible.

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Saigionsive
    Favourite Saigionsive
    Report
    Jul 19th 2021, 12:02 PM

    Should be on a green field site outside the m50, think of all the arts patrons who won’t be able to use the luas

    3
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel

 
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds