THE TAOISEACH HAS rubbished claims about Ireland’s neutrality made in a recent briefing by a Kremlin spokesperson. 

Maria Zakharova, who speaks on Foreign Affairs matters for the Putin regime, claimed that Ireland was being targeted by a joint European Union and Ukrainian effort in a bit to force Ireland to end its neutral status. 

Former TD and ex-army officer Cathal Berry was also mentioned by name in the briefing. The spokesperson appeared to accuse Berry of being involved in a campaign to involve Ireland in a growing militarism across the EU. 

Speaking in South Africa this morning ahead of this weekend’s G20 summit, Micheál Martin said the claims were “nonsense” and unacceptable. 

Triple Lock 

In Zakharova’s briefing, given last Friday, she also spoke about a recent conference in Dublin held in support of Ukraine involving Estonian, Ukrainian and EU officials which was also attended by Irish supporters of the Ukrainian government. 

She rounded on Martin in her comments and said that those who attended the conference were “supporters of the militarisation of Europe”. 

She said that Ireland was being forced by “Ursula von der Leyen’s department in the EU” to relinquish its neutral status and restrictions on troop deployments – an apparent reference to the Government’s plan to shelve the Triple Lock.

Maria Zakharova, spokesperson on Foreign Affairs for the Russian Federation. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

In a statement issued by Moscow on Saturday last, the Kremlin also contained quotes from Zakharova covering similar ground, but without mentioning names. 

“We are forced to acknowledge that the centre-right coalition ruling in Ireland has essentially embarked on a course of effectively eroding the constitutional ban on state participation in military conflicts.

“This seemingly illogical desire to self-destruct the foundations of the state fits perfectly with the efforts undertaken by Washington and London to consolidate the Western camp through military means,” the statement said. 

The statement also said that there had been “heated debate in Ireland over the country’s military neutrality in relation to the conflict in Ukraine”.

It claimed, without naming the politicians, that the Irish opposition had criticised the government for its decision to support a training mission for Ukrainian troops.

Ireland has previously provided non-lethal support including medical supplies and vehicles. It has also trained troops in combat drills, bomb disposal and battlefield medicine.

“This initiative has been described as yet another step by the government to involve Dublin in EU—and ultimately NATO—military activities, which will ultimately lead to the final dismantling of Ireland’s traditional military neutrality,” it added. 

Martin this morning described the remarks by the spokesperson as nonsense and “propaganda, basically”.

He said that there is a lot of hybrid warfare activity happening across Europe at present. He said that there is a clear “pattern of events happening”.

“And so there’s a lot of stuff going on at the moment in this which is like a consequence of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the war there, and there is a lot of tension. There’s a lot of worry and concern within the European Union, in particular about the recklessness of some of what has happened over the last number of months.

“We do have concerns in terms of critical undersea infrastructure, and that is why we are cooperating with others to protect our economic security, both in terms of gas connection connectors and in terms of subsea cables,” he said. 

Taoiseach Micheál Martin. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo

Speaking to The Journal, Cathal Berry, who is also a former officer in the Irish Special Forces unit The Army Ranger Wing, said the move was to cause societal and political “friction” in Ireland. 

“It just goes to show the level interest that the Dublin Embassy has in internal Irish affairs. It is identifying politically controversial issues to drive a wedge and drive controversy.

“This is part of their big game, it is hybrid activity and a disinformation campaign to turn Irish people against Ukraine and cause friction in our national parliament. Anyone who has been paying attention is very familiar with it, this is not new and is not a surprise and confirms our suspicions,” he said.