LAST UPDATE | 20 Jun 2023
TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has defended the Consultative Forum on International Security Policy being hosted this week as opposition TDs have labelled it “rigged” and said they’ve been excluded from the debate.
Varadkar, while speaking at a press conference about the Shared Island Fund today today, said that the forum is not about whether Ireland should join NATO or any other military alliance, but a “deep dive” into the state’s security policy.
An Taoiseach said that the country faces “very different threats” today and that he believes it’s time to begin to look at upgrading Ireland’s Defence Forces and putting investments in place.
Speaking outside Leinster House today, People Before Profit TD Mick Barry said he believes the forum is “rigged” and opposition leaders have been “excluded” from the speakers list.
“What is surprising is the breathtaking bias that is there in the speakers list,” Barry said
Barry also criticised the “audacity of the government” to choose such a speakers list as PBP feels there are not enough contrary voices speaking at the events.
Barry’s party colleague, TD Richard Boyd Barrett, said that the first investment into the Irish Defence Forces should be to increase the pay of of soldiers and to take on recent calls from the Women Of Honour for structural reform.
Boyd Barrett added: “Let’s also think; ‘What is the best protection for our troops on peacekeeping missions abroad?’ – I would argue the best protection for our troops abroad is the reputation of this country as a neutral country.
“[One] that is not aligned with any of the major military powers, whether it’s Russia, the United States, Britain, China, any of them.”
Both TDs also commended President Michael D Higgins’ critiques of the forum and said that the president rang the “alarm bells”.
Boyd Barrett said he agreed with Higgins’ suggestions of the forum and shared the view that the forum could lead the country to “abandon neutrality and move us closer towards NATO and a project of EU militarisation”.
An Taoiseach said today that there’s a “long standing convention” that Ministers do not criticise the President and will not breach the it and again confirmed that the forum is not about joining NATO.
Moderated discussions at the forum will be held among experts, such as academics from universities and researchers at think tanks such as the influential Chatham House.
For example, a debate on Thursday on cyber security two years after the attack on the HSE will be moderated by the head of the National Cyber Security Centre and involve Brigadier General Seán White, director of cyber defence at the EU Military Staff, and Richard Parker, vice-president of cyber security at Dell, the technology company.
The chair of the forum is Louise Richardson, an Irish counterterrorism expert who now works in philanthropy. She is a former vice-chancellor of Oxford University.
Speaking at the same event as the Taoiseach, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said the “entire purpose” of the consultative forum was to “generate debate” about Ireland’s foreign policy.
However, PBP believe the opposition has been “excluded” from this debate and argued that there was not enough contrary voices speaking at the consultative forum.
“This is something that we have been trying to ring the alarm bells about since this consultative forum was first mooted,” Boyd Barrett said
Both Barry and Boyd Barrett said they were displeased with the forum and feel it is “unashamedly one-sided” and suggested that less speakers, who they feel are “pro-war”, should be invited.
However, Boyd Barrett urged the public to read the biographies of the speakers as he believes up to six of the speakers have connections to NATO or directly work for the military alliance.
“It is absolutely stacked. In contrast, there is one speaker who is a known activist for the peace and neutrality and anti-war movements in this country,” Boyd Barrett said.
“No fair minded person could say that this forum is anything other than a stacked ready-up, designed to condition public opinion, away from neutrality and towards a closer military in alignment with NATO,” he added.
Martin said he doesn’t understand why Boyd Barrett, Barry and fellow party-member Paul Murphy are opposed to the forum and said he believes the consultative forum was the “right way to go because ultimately the Dáil can debate this as well”.
An Tánaiste described the forum as “transparent” as it provides expertise on “emerging trends”.
Boyd Barrett said he believes the “absolute minimum” the forum should have to create credibility and balance would be to include “at least one” voice from opposition, the non-aligned movement, anti-war or anti-militarisation organisations at each discussion during the forum.
Boyd Barrett added that he believes it couldn’t be clearer that the forum is designed to “push an an agenda of militarism and war.
The Consultative Forum on International Security will happen over four days, kicking off on Thursday in University College Cork. The remaining sessions will happen in the University of Galway on Friday, followed by two days in Dublin Castle next week.
Government sources said that 1,200 people have registered for the events and there have been 300 submissions.
There has been no change to the programme and all speakers continue to be committed, sources said.
The sessions will be live-streamed and members of the public have had the chance to register to attend, although places are limited. Members of the public can also make submissions in writing.
Additional reporting by Mia Douglas and Valerie Flynn
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