Dr Ciara Murphy
“Every war leaves our world worse than it was before. War is a failure of politics and of humanity, a shameful capitulation, a stinging defeat before the forces of evil.”
Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti
Pope Francis in Fratelli Tutti articulates the utter devastation which war leaves in its wake.1 As the Irish Government attempts to redefine what Irish neutrality looks like, and in the midst of the conflicts which are currently raging in Sudan, Ukraine and Gaza, these words are especially timely.
This issue of Working Notes contributes to the ongoing conversation2 in Ireland relating to our security and neutrality. Ireland’s position of neutrality affords us a unique position in the global stage of international relations, but changing this policy of neutrality needs to be carefully considered to ensure that our contribution to peacekeeping is enhanced rather than diminished. Precipitated by the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the ransomware attack on the HSE in 2021 and Russian warships in Irish waters exposing security vulnerabilities, alongside fears for the security of underwater communication and renewable energy infrastructure, a Consultative Forum on International Security Policy was convened
in June 2023. Issues such as maintaining the Triple Lock mechanism,3 disinformation, cyber security and Ireland’s engagement with NATO were all on the agenda at the Consultative Forum and continue to be debated widely,4 with an amendment to the Triple Lock legislation due to be published in September 2024.5
MORE THAN LIFE OR DEATH
War and conflict is not just a matter of life and death. The impact of war is not isolated to the regions that are bombed and the people who are killed, maimed and deeply traumatised. There is a ripple effect which is felt in the economy and environment, visibly exacerbating pre-existing crises. How we respond to both the threats and the reality of war—as well as factors which can lead to conflict and other humanitarian crises— requires careful consideration and debate. The essays in this issue will contribute to the current
conversation and attest to the many different aspects that need to be considered when we talk of war, neutrality and conflict.
The opening essay in this issue, “Pax Nostra; The Role of Armed Forces in Replacing the Bonds of War with the Bonds of Charity” by Dr. Elise Lefeuvre, delves into what the Church has to say about war. She casts her net through the rich texts available including the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, and several Papal encyclicals. She identifies the main differences in what church and state asks of those involved in conflict – “[w]hile States have clearly defined
legal frameworks, rules, procedures and ethics for the use of force, the position of the Church is instead radical (no use of violence) and somewhat contradictory (still indications for combatants when fighting).” The focus of the Church on ‘life’ and ‘peace’ are central themes in Lefeuvre’s essay and are the scaffolding which she erects to support her comprehensive argument that the church is ultimately asking us to “seek to surpass oneself, daring us to translate ideals into concrete actions, even if ideals – such as the end of wars – seem unachievable and fanciful.”
The theme of creating and maintaining peace is continued in Prof. Tobias Winright’s excellent essay “Irish Neutrality, International Peacekeeping, and Policing”. In this essay, he examines “neutrality, defence, and cooperation… [and]… Ireland’s distinctive approach in international peacekeeping, one that is consonant with its understanding and practice of policing.” Granting that neutrality is a contested term, both within Ireland and between different nations, Winright reiterates that Ireland’s approach to neutrality “has always been flexible, shifting in response to international events and domestic concerns.” In seeking to clarify our position and identify a potential way forward, he examines how our vision and practice of policing in Ireland – which is primarily unarmed and geared towards social peacekeeping – could be a model of just
policing in international peacekeeping efforts. In closing, Winright asserts that “[a]s for the use of armed force, as long as it is aligned with a social peacekeeper approach to policing, I think this, too, is congruent with recent Catholic teaching.”
With firsthand experience of Ireland’s peacekeeping efforts, Dr Mark Mellett’s essay, “Nature, Consciousness and the Anthropocene – Security Within an Ecosystem?”, diagnoses factors that can lead to conflict and reduced global security. He then constructs a wide ranging and holistic vision of the future of global security which focuses on climate change and biodiversity loss as major risk factors – “we live in an extraordinary time where the rate of change on so many fronts, including climate and security, is akin to what one experiences in wartime and yet we try to act as if we are at peace.” Furthermore, Mellett
examines how we can evolve as a society to live more harmoniously with each other and with our natural environment. Drawing on Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ and Ilia Delio, he maintains that “greater convergence of science and religion” is vital to build and maintain global security. In this way he echoes Lefeuvre and Winright, articulating the importance of religion and its teaching in how we navigate towards global security. Practically, Mellett closes his essay by prescribing five ways to promote a more peaceful loving society including implementing the Loss and Damage fund; implementing the UN
Sustainable Development Goals; and promoting multilateralism and collaboration.
In “Overturning the Economics of War to Deliver a Co-operative Future and Peaceful Green Prosperity”, Deborah Burton and Dr. Ho-Chih Lin continue the exploration of the ecological aspects of conflict—with a
particular focus on the carbon dioxide emissions associated with the military— through an economic lens. Borrowing themes such as ‘degrowth’ and the concept of a ‘Green New Deal,’ Burton and Lin introduce readers to the idea of shifting the economics of war onto a path of peaceful prosperity, it “is the starting point for much needed, if challenging, discussions that can lead us to a paradigm shift in geopolitics.” While economics is the mainstay of this incredibly informative essay, it also touches on how we need to rethink international relations for the economic potential to be implemented. Here the authors recognise how Ireland’s neutrality policy can play a role to somewhat counterbalance bigger military powers as “Ireland could lead the world again on these matters of international cooperation, human safety and investment in the things that really matter, if we are to avoid the consequences of catastrophic climate change.”
As well as contributing to the climate crisis, conflict and war has the potential to amplify other seemingly unrelated crises at a local level. This is powerfully illustrated in “Well- Founded Fear of Reception in Ireland: No Accommodation, No Minimum Standards, No Red Lines” by Eugene Quinn and David Moriarty. Drawing on their front-line experience with the Jesuit Refugee Service, they expertly document the undignified living conditions which people, who are forced to flee from zones of conflict and persecution, reside in. The housing crisis, which is endemic and inexplicably worsening in Ireland, is both fueling the increasingly desperate accommodation conditions and intensified by the increased numbers looking for shelter. The growing discontent within communities around the housing and cost of living crises are also providing conditions in which far right sentiment can emerge. Subsuming genuine concerns, “anti-immigrant social media accounts and groups amplify fears, foment anger and call for protest and violence to counter the perceived threat immigration presents.” The failure of the state in its obligations are clear in this essay with Quinn and Moriarty outlining how the “Irish State is in breach of its international obligations under the EU Reception Conditions Directive” by failing in their responsibility to shelter those coming to Ireland seeking protection. The authors outline the steps the State needs to take in the short, medium and long term to deal with this unacceptable crisis in accommodation of International Protection Applicants.
In his interview with Irish filmmaker, Emmet Sheerin, Dr Kevin Hargaden maintains the focus at the level of our national policies. This piece — “Can I Get a Witness: Who Would Jesus Bomb?” — explores how Ireland is complicit in atrocities far from our shores, and how this impacts our neutrality. Touching on points discussed across many of the essays, Sheerin argues that “any furthering of this erosion [of our neutrality] would be massively detrimental.” Documenting the deeply Christian action of activists protesting the use of Shannon airport in the “global War on Terror”, he shines a light on the action which can be taken by Irish citizens while reminding us that “we were part of that conveyor belt of death….. we were facilitating huge numbers of Americans to go and fight, to kill and to die” which goes against our position of neutrality.
In 1946, Ernest Hemingway, scarred from being an ambulance driver in WWI and after the conclusion of WWII, famously said “Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime.”6 As Ireland grapples with how to move forward peacefully, in an evolving and changing world, we hope that the essays within this Working Notes issue bring fresh perspectives to the national conversation on present and future neutrality.
Footnotes:
- Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti (Assisi: Vatican, 2020), §261. ↩︎
- Professor Dame Louise Richardson, Consultative Forum on International Security Policy Report to An Tánaiste, Department of Foreign Affairs, 2023, https://www.gov.ie/pdf/file=https://assets.gov.ie/275081/6cbe12c4-2f01-4fdc-a8e5-98e14c0e1546.pdf#page=null. ↩︎
- The Triple Lock mechanism states that the Dáil, the Government, and the UN Security Council have to agree before more than 12 armed members of the Irish Defense Forces can be deployed on peacekeeping operations overseas ↩︎
- Mícheál Lehane, “Triple Lock Bill Will Not Put Neutrality at Risk -Harris,” April 30 2024, https://www.rte.ie/news/2024/0430/1446424-defence-forces-triple-lock/. ↩︎
- “Triple Lock Amendment to Be Published by September at Latest –Martin,” BreakingNews.ie, July 2 2024, ↩︎
