Supporters of a planned march backing Irish neutrality have said last week’s fuel protests demonstrated the effectiveness of public demonstrations, reports Breaking News.
A nationwide anti-war protest is scheduled to take place in Dublin city centre on Saturday, reports Breaking News.
Organisers say their aim is to strengthen protections around Irish neutrality and to send a clear message to the Government to adopt a firmer stance on US and Israeli actions in the Middle East.
The protest, organised by the Irish Neutrality League, has backing from left-wing opposition parties, several trade unions, and anti-war organisations, reports Breaking News.
Speaking at a press conference in Dublin on Wednesday, People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said “regardless of your view of them (the fuel protests), you can’t deny that they’ve proved the protests are effective”.
“I don’t think anybody believes the Government when they say, ‘Oh, we had this package planned and they’re nothing to do with the protest whatsoever’,” reports Breaking News.
Murphy was referring to the support package introduced by the Government on Sunday to address rising costs linked to the Iran war.
When asked whether the movement might replicate last week’s disruption through similar blockades, Sinn Féin TD Ruairí Ó Murchú said the public needed to understand that the Government was “willing and hoping” people would “sleepwalk into” the removal of neutrality protections, reports Breaking News.
He said this did not necessarily mean there must be “absolutely heightened protests from the beginning”, but added that “it is only when it hurts those that are in power” that they will “move”.
“If we don’t put the pressure on them, they are going to sail along, and we will lose that protection we have,” he said, reports Breaking News.
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Representatives from the Teachers Union of Ireland, Sinn Féin, the Social Democrats, the Irish Neutrality League, the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, People Before Profit, and independent senator Tom Clonan attended the press conference.
A central focus of the discussion was the importance of Ireland’s triple lock, which governs the deployment of Irish troops on overseas peacekeeping missions, reports Breaking News.
Under this mechanism, more than 12 Defence Forces personnel cannot be sent abroad without approval from the UN Security Council, the Government, and the Dáil.
Proposed legislation, the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2025, introduced by the Government last year, seeks to remove the triple lock, reports Breaking News.
Social Democrats TD Sinead Gibney said: “The removal of the triple lock, and this defence Act that the Government is trying to push through right now, is a major risk to our reputation on the global stage as peacemakers,
“It is a risk to our ability to negotiate and to represent small nations,” reports Breaking News.
Senator Tom Clonan, a former Defence Forces member, said the Joint Committee on National Security had confirmed that without the triple lock: “Irish soldiers could have been ordered to go and participate in the invasion of Iraq,
“That’s not hyperbole. That’s on the record,” reports Breaking News.
The group also criticised what it described as the Government’s “lack of condemnation” of US and Israeli military actions in the Middle East.
Sara O’Rourke of the Irish Neutrality League said: “It is just not acceptable that this Government is not just refusing to condemn, but is actually facilitating these actions, through the use of Shannon Airport, trade with Israel, and a number of other ways in which they have made Ireland complicit,” reports Breaking News.
Supporters of the demonstration acknowledged that drawing large public attention has become more difficult in recent times.
In 2003, around 100,000 people marched through Dublin city centre in protest against the Iraq War, but organisers say the current environment is more challenging, reports Breaking News.
Gibney said she was “hoping for a big turnout”, but added: “It’s a difficult time because it’s just so noisy right now, there is so much going on,
“People feel overwhelmed, but this is an issue that people overwhelmingly feel strongly about, and hopefully we get the message out,” reports Breaking News.
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