GALWAY – Galway West by-election candidate Sheila Garrity is calling for a vote of the people before the government might consider any changes in Ireland’s status as a neutral country.
Garrity, an independent, said the topic of neutrality and the Triple Lock policy has featured in weekly community meetings she has been holding, with attendees strongly of the view that any potential change needs to be voted on by citizens.
“Any change to our neutrality must be put to the people in a referendum,” Garrity said. “Anything else is an affront to democracy.”
She said the outbreak of unsanctioned military attacks on Iran and other Middle East states over nearly two weeks has highlighted the urgency that Ireland remain a neutral country and that the Triple Lock, a key mechanism of that neutrality, remain untouched.
Garrity is running for the seat vacated by Catherine Connolly after she was elected President last November. On Sunday, President Connolly said recent attacks in the Middle East are “deliberate assaults on international law – the international laws that have underpinned global peace for eighty years.”
Garrity agreed with Connolly’s concerns.
“At recent community meetings, there was strong consensus that without the Triple Lock, Ireland is at risk of being drawn into illegal and devastating wars around the globe, such as the current action,” she said, adding that consistent polling supports Irish neutrality with 75% agreeing and only 35% of respondents supporting the removal of the Triple Lock while over a dozen local councils have passed motions in support of retaining the Triple Lock.
“The views of the Irish people are clear. These views have been demonstrated through four constitutional referendums – the height of democratic processes. The people of Ireland cherish our neutrality and our role as peacekeepers. Should the current government wish to change the current status, this must only be achieved through the agreement of the Irish people, through a referendum. Nothing else is acceptable.”