Adams opposes EU military alliance
Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams MP has challenged the Dublin Government to state ``without any ambiguity'' if it is moving towards joining an EU military alliance.
Mr Adams said that comments reported this week from Minister for Foreign Affairs Brian Cowen advocating participation in EU defence policy will set alarm bells ringing amongst those opposed to the creation of a European Superstate with a military arm. ``The issue of Irish neutrality is not just a 26-County matter but is an issue of the utmost importance for all of the people of this island,'' the Sinn Féin leader said.
``Brian Cowen's promise that `our traditional foreign policy' will not be compromised by participation in an EU defence policy rings very hollow when you consider that for many years now the process of European Union integration has been steadily eroding our sovereignty and our neutrality.
``Brian Cowen assures us that `the EU is not a mutual defence organisation and will never be', but Fianna Fáil also promised us that they would hold a referendum on joining NATO's Partnership for Peace and they never did. They went back on that promise.
``Sinn Féin believes there is no role for the European Union in military and defence matters. International peace-keeping should be under the auspices of the United Nations. But this does not mean that we are isolationist. On the contrary, we are internationalists who support a pro-active foreign policy.
``We want to see positive neutrality in action, using the goodwill and respect enjoyed by the Irish nation throughout the world to promote the peaceful resolution of conflicts, disarmament, protection of the environment and the fair distribution of the world's resources. We cannot do this if we acquiesce in the creation of a European Superstate with a military arm.
``The Irish people have a very special role to play in international affairs. As a people who have been fighting against colonialism for centuries we are unique in the European Union, most of whose members are former colonial powers.
``We need a bridge between those emerging nations in eastern and southern Europe which are disadvantaged through years of repression and poverty, and between Europe and the peoples of what is called `the South' - the poorer nations of the world representing the majority of humanity, who are crippled by a foreign debt which keeps them permanently impoverished.
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