Triple Lock 'must be retained', says Kilcullen peace activist

Ireland must retain the so-called Triple Lock on the country's peacekeeping activities in order to fulfil a Constitutional obligation to be a peacemaker, according to local peace activist Liz Cullen, writes Brian Byrne. She was speaking in advance of a meeting in Kilcullen next week on the theme of Irish neutrality.

The Triple Lock, introduced in relation to the Nice and Lisbon treaties of two decades ago, ensures that Ireland's peacekeeping troops cannot be sent abroad without a UN mandate. The government is now proposing to end that system, making the UN mandate unnecessary, without the matter being put to a referendum.

Noting that Article 29.2 of Bunreacht na hÉireann commits Ireland to the principle of pacific settlement of international disputes, Liz Cullen says that dropping this safeguard would both undermine the UN and leave Ireland open to a foreign policy dictated by the EU.

A Neutrality Roadshow is visiting the Town Hall on the evening of Thursday 29 May, starting at 7.30pm and chaired by a local member of the Kildare Palestine Solidarity Campaign. The main speakers will be Niamh Ní Bhriain, coordinator of the Transnational Institute’s War and Pacification programme, and Fionn Wallace, a researcher and political writer who has worked in the European Parliament.

Liz Cullen is a founding member of a peace action group, Lex Innocentium 21st Century. The group is inspired by the work of a 7th century monk, Adomnan, who wrote a law, Lex Innocentium, which secured protection in times of war for women, children, clerics, penitents, and those in the care of the church.

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