Fianna Fáil councillor tipped for Dublin by-election votes against government policy on Triple Lock
Dublin’s Deputy Lord Mayor, Fianna Fáil councillor John Stephens, voted on Monday to retain Ireland’s Triple Lock, flying in the face of Government’s ambition to remove the instrument.
Mr Stephens is widely tipped to be Fianna Fáil’s candidate for the upcoming Dublin by-election, with Senator Mary Fitzpatrick ruling herself out of the contest in recent weeks.
Speaking on a motion brought by Independent councillor Cieran Perry calling for the Government to retain the Triple Lock, Mr Stephens said it has “worked well for Ireland”.
"We are a big voice, even though we’re a small country, because we have neutrality. There’s not enough countries like us in the world, so it’s very important that we stay within that apparatus,” he told the chamber.
The Triple Lock is a mechanism which limits the Government from deploying more than 12 Irish troops at a time without also having the express backing of the Dáil and the United Nations Security Council (SC).
Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris have long voiced concerns about the latter aspect of the instrument, due to the potential for a permanent member of the UNSC, such as Russia, to veto the deployment of Irish troops.
A bill is moving forward that will abolish the UNSC element of the mechanism, meaning that only the Government and Dáíl acting together could decide on future deployments.
Those opposed to scrapping the safeguard see it as a step toward NATO co-operation and a retraction from Ireland’s long-held policy of military neutrality.
“While I support this motion, I do think we have to invest in our Defence Forces,” said Mr Stephens. “We are a republican country, I think we have the right to protect our own airspaces, we have the right to protect our coastline … but that doesn’t mean we have to change things.”
"Because if we don’t do that, we’re talking about the issues in the north inner city, drugs and all that, I don’t want a situation that drugs are getting into this country.”
Sinn Féin councillor Micheál MacDonncha also supported the motion, and said he had to “praise” Mr Stephens for his position on the Triple Lock.
"It’s a great pity about your colleagues in Fianna Fáil, they have forgotten the tradition of their own party,” said Mr MacDonncha.
The motion passed with 39 votes in favour, nine against and four abstentions.