This article by Eoin Ó Murchú first appeared in Unity, the weekly publication of the Irish Communist Party.
THE campaign to tie Ireland more and more closely in with European militaristic objectives continues apace, with massive media coverage given to the wholly concocted Birmingham Report on supposed Islamic threats to Ireland, followed by Minister for Defence, Helen McEntee, declaring that Ireland has a duty to protect subsea cables that link the US to Europe.
Except, of course, she claimed that Ireland’s own ability to function coherently was dependent on these cables, even though the published map showed that only three of the cables listed – out of up to fifty – actually reached Ireland at all.
Two isolated actions carried out by mentally ill people were highlighted as proving how dangerous the situation was, while the Irish Times warned us in bloodcurdling terms that social media accounts that they described as being run by Iran, Russia and China were encouraging support for Iran and opposition to Israel.
Irish people’s opposition to Israel is not the result of malignant interference on social media. It is based, in fact, on what we see on our television screens: the indiscriminate slaughter of Palestinian civilians, especially children; and whatever support there is for Iran is based on the fact that this was an Israeli-inspired war designed to eliminate the Palestinians’ most obdurate supporter.
As to the Islamic threat? There is of course no concrete evidence, no reference to any known Islamist group referring hostilely to Ireland, and no reason whatever why there should be.
Put simply, there is no Islamic threat to Ireland. This is a deliberate lie designed to create a climate of fear under the cover of which was can be drawn into the NATO net even more closely than we already have been.
Yet the Irish people are being repeatedly inundated with false stories of this kind.
Despite the continued declared position of the Irish people to maintain neutrality, the government instead is promoting full involvement in NATO and EU military activity. Micheál Martin and his associates redefine neutrality to meaninglessness. Under this definition, we not militarily neutral in so far as our armed forces are – as yet – not involved in wars and EU military excursions, but politically, he claims, we stand with the EU (and, it needs not be said, with NATO).
The story about the threat – in reality non-existent – to our cables came replete with a tired old video image of a Russian research ship in Irish waters. No pictures are ever shown of the much more frequent passage through Irish waters of British and US military vehicles, including submarines.
But despite the pictures of this Russian ship no cables have ever been damaged in the way the Irish media suggest.
Indeed, what we do know is that the only instance of the deliberate destruction of a subsea connector was the blowing up of the Nord Stream II gas pipeline bringing cheap Russian gas to Germany.
That act of sabotage was carried out by the United States using, it appears, primarily Ukrainian actors. Given US involvement, the EU delicately refuses to discuss it, and the Irish media dutifully follow suit by ignoring the only known act of subsea sabotage.
As to Jihadism, this is primarily directed against Israel and those who support it. Ireland is one of the few European countries with an honourable record of opposing Israeli terrorism. There is no reason whatsoever for Islamic jihadists, no matter how delusional, to target Ireland.
Nor is there any reason for Russia to do so. While the Irish government has taken a violently anti-Russian stance in international affairs, and has opposed all moves to obtain an end to the war in Ukraine, Ireland is not – to Martin’s chagrin – a player in this war.
But that could change. If Martin, along with Fine Gael, were to succeed in completely eliminating Irish neutrality and bringing us in to the EU military fold, then Ireland would become a player, and it would then make sense for Russia to plan some contingency action against Ireland in the event of war.
So, far from neutrality leaving us exposed and open to attack, neutrality is in fact our best defence, as well as being the morally right thing to do.
The government and media campaigns of disinformation and distortion should be recognised for that they are.
No, there is no Islamic threat to Ireland. There is no Russian threat to Ireland. And there never will be unless we get rid of our neutrality.