Ireland to become embroiled in the EU super-army

national | anti-war / imperialism | other press Wednesday July 05, 2006 19:57 by Phuq Hedd

Legislation railroaded through Dail. Labour abstain.

Legislation that would allow Ireland's DEFENCE forces to take part in "EU battlegroups" has been railroaded through the Dail according to an article in the Irish Independent, May 5th 2006 by Geraldine Collins and Michael Brennan. (As there's a login requirement at the Indo I repost the full story below this summary):

(c) Irish Independent

Irish Army can now join EU rapid force

LEGISLATION to allow the Irish Army to take part in EU battlegroups was rushed through the Dail last night.

The stated purpose of the 13 EU battlegroups, which will contain 1,500 soldiers each, is to provide a rapid reaction force which can intervene to protect civilians in urgent conflict situations.

The Defence Amendment Bill will allow Irish troops to be sent on overseas duties under the authority of the Government and the Minister for Defence.

For the first time, under the legislation, the Government would have authority to despatch members of the Defence Forces to undertake humanitarian tasks in response to a disaster or emergency.

Fine Gael supported the bill while Labour abstained. The Greens and Sinn Fein voted against.

Green Party leader Trevor Sargent said the bill could allow the Irish army to become embroiled in illegal wars like Iraq, which was not authorised by the UN.

"That chills me, and I think the Government needs to go back to the drawing board," he said.