Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s spokespersons on Foreign Affairs, Se\u00e1n Crowe TD, and Defence, P\u00e1draig MacLochlainn, have stated that the party opposes the Government\u2019s plan to send Irish Defence Force soldiers to the Golan Heights.<\/p>\n
The Government proposal would see up to 150 Irish troops being sent to serve on the UNDOF (United Nations Disengagement Observer Force) mission in the Golan Heights. Although they would serve on an UN mission, Sinn F\u00e9in opposes the move because the EU recently lifted its arms embargo on Syria, and this has effectively robbed Irish troops of their neutrality in a Syrian conflict that has already seen foreign peacekeepers come under fire and some even held hostage.<\/p>\n
Deputy Se\u00e1n Crowe said:<\/p>\n
\u201cSinn F\u00e9in is committed to positive Irish neutrality and independent foreign policy. We believe Ireland should actively work to promote conflict resolution, peaceful democratic settlements and self-determination throughout the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis state\u2019s history of serving in UN \u2018Blue Helmet\u2019 peace keeping missions is a matter of pride and enhances our standing as a neutral state.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever sending troops to the UNDOF mission is not a simple or straightforward decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe government have been asked to send troops to the UNDOF mission to help fill a short fall in troops caused by the Austrian government\u2019s decision to withdraw their troops due to safety concerns over the deteriorating security situation due to the on-going war in Syria and because the EU failed to renew its weapons embargo on Syria in May.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe share the concerns of the Austrian government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lifting of the EU arms embargo has robbed Irish troops of their neutrality in a Syrian conflict that has already seen foreign peacekeepers come under fire and some even held hostage. In essence the EU\u2019s decision, led by Britain and France, means the impartiality of the peace mission is no longer maintained.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough no EU state has formally sent weapons to the rebel groups in Syria, they could conceivably do so while Irish troops are there and this would seriously threaten the lives of our Defence Force personnel.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the EU renewed its arms embargo Sinn F\u00e9in would support this deployment of troops to the UNDOF mission, but unfortunately that is not the case and therefore we are against this deployment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deputy P\u00e1draig MacLochlainn said:<\/p>\n
\u201cFor Sinn F\u00e9in the safety of Irish Defence Force troops is the most important thing in this context. We fear they will come under intense risk due to the failure of the EU to maintain a neutral stance in the Syrian war.<\/p>\n
\u201cSinn F\u00e9in wholeheartedly supports the government\u2019s humanitarian support to the vulnerable and impoverished Syrian population and refugees, and we would support government initiatives to increase the humanitarian aid and support this state is supplying.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe continue to believe that the all sides in the Syrian conflict need to immediately begin a negotiated cessation of violence and to enter into inclusive peace talks.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough Sinn F\u00e9in is against this deployment, the government got D\u00e1il approval today, so we will use all opportunities to ensure that the government provides all the resources and support needed to carry out their mission safely.\u201d<\/p>\n
ENDS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sinn F\u00e9in\u2019s spokespersons on Foreign Affairs, Se\u00e1n Crowe TD, and Defence, P\u00e1draig MacLochlainn, have stated that the party opposes the Government\u2019s plan to send Irish Defence Force soldiers to the Golan Heights. The Government proposal would see up to 150 Irish troops being sent to serve on the UNDOF (United Nations Disengagement Observer Force) mission […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14,48,41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-818","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-foreign-affairs","category-israel","category-syria"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=818"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1167,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/818\/revisions\/1167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/seancrowe.ie\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}