Responding to reports that Ireland is to officially join the Common Information Sharing Environment (CISE), alongside NATO members, Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Norway, Finland and Portugal, Paul Murphy TD, said:
'The Tánaiste’s decision to join an intelligence and surveillance sharing alliance with so many NATO members is the latest attack on Irish Neutrality from a government hellbent on destroying it.
'The government will try to paint this as just another form of cooperation with fellow EU member states. But with so many NATO members involved, including Norway, which is not an EU member, in reality it is another step in bringing us closer to NATO and boiling the frog of Irish neutrality.
'The scaremongering about the presence of Russian ships on the high seas - many miles out from Irish territorial waters - used to justify this move is completely bogus. As is the claim that subsea cables vital to Ireland or our energy security are under threat from Russia. The Government knows it cannot credibly scaremonger about a Russian invasion so it is seeking to manufacture panic around these imaginary threats instead.'
The media should question government motives and timing behind these announcements. Government has legislation set to abolish the Triple Lock and increase government military spending. This announcement and its timing creates the appearance of a wave of momentum which are all actually small unilateral actions by a small number of government ministers against the majority of the wishes of the vast majority of Irish people who believe Irish Neutrality is important.
President Michael D. Higgins has rightly criticised NATO’s calls for massive increases in military spending, at the expense of housing, health and social welfare, as appalling. The money should be spent on people's needs not government minister's pricey military alliance pet projects.
Public opinion overwhelmingly supports maintaining Irish neutrality and seeking to be a force for peace, not war. People Before Profit is a member of the cross-party, cross-civil society Irish Neutrality League. We are committed to fighting every attack on Irish neutrality and mobilising public opinion onto the streets to protect it.