LEGISLATION TO REMOVE the triple lock on the deployment of Irish troops overseas has passed its first vote in the Dáil tonight after 79 TDs backed the change and 71 opposed it.
The triple lock means Ireland can’t deploy more than 12 troops overseas without approval from the UN, government and the Dáil.
Tonight’s vote came after hours-long debate on the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2026 – the legislation which would remove the triple lock. The legislation is now to be enacted before the end of the year.
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Shortly after the results were announced, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald called for a referendum on the issue, arguing the move is a “fundamental change to Ireland’s neutrality”.
There was widespread criticism of the legislation from the opposition benches during today’s three-hour debate.
Opening the debate, Minister for Defence Helen McEntee said the legislation was required to secure Irish sovereignty and allow the Irish State to make decisions about where Defence Forces troops are sent.
Opposition TDs argued that the removal amounts to an encroachment on Irish neutrality, something government TDs repeatedly rebuked during the debate.
Sinn Féin’s foreign affairs spokesperson, TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, accused the government of aligning itself more closely with military structures of Nato member states.
His Sinn Féin colleague, Rose Conway Walsh, who is chair of the Oireachtas Defence and National Security Committee, said the Irish people are deeply engaged in this issue and claimed that the “vast majority are against this bill”.
“Pushing a massive change through without proper public debate is completely unacceptable,” she said, adding that it should be done via a referendum.
She concluded by saying: “I recognise the genuine difficulties facing the United Nations Security Council, but the answer to a dysfunctional Security Council is not to abandon the UN framework.”
Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne told the Dáil that the government’s bill was a “complete betrayal of the Irish people” in relation to neutrality.
He accused Fine Gael of being the driving force behind the move to dismantle the triple lock and said Fianna Fáil were simply going along with it. He added that this would be “deeply damaging” for Fianna Fáil.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil TD and junior minister Niall Collins said it was “regrettable that much of the debate has been hijacked by blatant misinformation and populism”.
He argued that this bill will have no impact on Irish neutrality.
Labour’s foreign affairs spokesperson Duncan Smith argued that the government does not have a mandate for this change and said that while the United Nations is “imperfect”, Ireland should not be distancing itself from it.
“We should look at strengthening the UN with our voice and with our deeds, and I think this government will look back on this as a real regret, because it will be the moment that they turn their backs on a security framework, on the United Nations, and it’s something they shouldn’t do,” he said.
A similar point was made by Social Democrats TD Sinéad Gibney, who told the Dáil that dismantling the triple lock would mean Ireland would be “joining all of those States that we are critical of and that are rendering the United Nations dysfunctional”.
Earlier today, McEntee said the government has the mandate to remove the triple lock and that the public has “put their trust” in this government to make decisions like this.
“However…we are not neutral when it comes to challenges, when it comes to security issues, when it comes to the risks that we face,” she said, adding that removing the triple lock is necessary to make sure Ireland can respond to the “threats” and “risks” we are “seeing more frequently”.
Under the triple lock, the deployment of more than 12 Irish troops must be approved by the UN, the government and a Dáil resolution.
The government’s proposed legislation would remove the requirement for UN Security Council authorisation.
The government argues the reform is necessary to ensure Ireland can respond more flexibly with peacekeeping missions and to prevent Ireland from being blocked from participating in international missions due to UN Security Council deadlock or vetoes by permanent members such as Russia.
‘The triple lock is not working’
Asked today if there is any appetite to put the changes to people in a referendum, McEntee said the triple lock was put in place at a “very different time” and that it is no longer working as intended.
McEntee argued that removing the triple lock actually enhances Ireland’s neutrality by enabling Ireland to continue peacekeeping missions without UN approval.
She pointed to the end of the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission in Lebanon as an example of the triple lock not working and noted that no new peacekeeping mission has been agreed by the UN Security Council since 2014.
On a referendum, McEntee said that to alter the Irish Constitution in relation to this would make it “more difficult for us to respond to the changing world, to respond to evolving threats”.
She also made the point that TDs are democratically elected and that the government’s removal of the triple lock is being done by democratic means.
Her comments come after Mary Lou McDonald on Tuesday accused the government of “pushing ahead” with the removal of the triple lock without consulting the people of Ireland.
She accused the government of “moving away from peacekeeping and towards military adventurism” and said scrapping the policy “opens the door for Ireland to be dragged deeper into EU military structures”.
Dáil vote to remove triple lock
LEGISLATION TO REMOVE the triple lock on the deployment of Irish troops overseas has passed its first vote in the Dáil tonight after 79 TDs backed the change and 71 opposed it.
The triple lock means Ireland can’t deploy more than 12 troops overseas without approval from the UN, government and the Dáil.
Tonight’s vote came after hours-long debate on the Defence (Amendment) Bill 2026 – the legislation which would remove the triple lock. The legislation is now to be enacted before the end of the year.
Shortly after the results were announced, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald called for a referendum on the issue, arguing the move is a “fundamental change to Ireland’s neutrality”.
There was widespread criticism of the legislation from the opposition benches during today’s three-hour debate.
Opening the debate, Minister for Defence Helen McEntee said the legislation was required to secure Irish sovereignty and allow the Irish State to make decisions about where Defence Forces troops are sent.
Opposition TDs argued that the removal amounts to an encroachment on Irish neutrality, something government TDs repeatedly rebuked during the debate.
Sinn Féin’s foreign affairs spokesperson, TD Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire, accused the government of aligning itself more closely with military structures of Nato member states.
His Sinn Féin colleague, Rose Conway Walsh, who is chair of the Oireachtas Defence and National Security Committee, said the Irish people are deeply engaged in this issue and claimed that the “vast majority are against this bill”.
“Pushing a massive change through without proper public debate is completely unacceptable,” she said, adding that it should be done via a referendum.
She concluded by saying: “I recognise the genuine difficulties facing the United Nations Security Council, but the answer to a dysfunctional Security Council is not to abandon the UN framework.”
Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne told the Dáil that the government’s bill was a “complete betrayal of the Irish people” in relation to neutrality.
He accused Fine Gael of being the driving force behind the move to dismantle the triple lock and said Fianna Fáil were simply going along with it. He added that this would be “deeply damaging” for Fianna Fáil.
Meanwhile, Fianna Fáil TD and junior minister Niall Collins said it was “regrettable that much of the debate has been hijacked by blatant misinformation and populism”.
He argued that this bill will have no impact on Irish neutrality.
Labour’s foreign affairs spokesperson Duncan Smith argued that the government does not have a mandate for this change and said that while the United Nations is “imperfect”, Ireland should not be distancing itself from it.
“We should look at strengthening the UN with our voice and with our deeds, and I think this government will look back on this as a real regret, because it will be the moment that they turn their backs on a security framework, on the United Nations, and it’s something they shouldn’t do,” he said.
A similar point was made by Social Democrats TD Sinéad Gibney, who told the Dáil that dismantling the triple lock would mean Ireland would be “joining all of those States that we are critical of and that are rendering the United Nations dysfunctional”.
Earlier today, McEntee said the government has the mandate to remove the triple lock and that the public has “put their trust” in this government to make decisions like this.
“We were a neutral country before the triple lock was introduced many decades ago, and to reassure people, we will continue to be a neutral country,” McEntee said in Trim, Co Meath, where she was attending the annual Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (RACO) conference.
“However…we are not neutral when it comes to challenges, when it comes to security issues, when it comes to the risks that we face,” she said, adding that removing the triple lock is necessary to make sure Ireland can respond to the “threats” and “risks” we are “seeing more frequently”.
On Tuesday, members of opposition parties held up placards reading ‘save neutrality’ after heated exchanges with Taoiseach Micheál Martin over today’s debate.
Under the triple lock, the deployment of more than 12 Irish troops must be approved by the UN, the government and a Dáil resolution.
The government’s proposed legislation would remove the requirement for UN Security Council authorisation.
The government argues the reform is necessary to ensure Ireland can respond more flexibly with peacekeeping missions and to prevent Ireland from being blocked from participating in international missions due to UN Security Council deadlock or vetoes by permanent members such as Russia.
‘The triple lock is not working’
Asked today if there is any appetite to put the changes to people in a referendum, McEntee said the triple lock was put in place at a “very different time” and that it is no longer working as intended.
McEntee argued that removing the triple lock actually enhances Ireland’s neutrality by enabling Ireland to continue peacekeeping missions without UN approval.
She pointed to the end of the UNIFIL peacekeeping mission in Lebanon as an example of the triple lock not working and noted that no new peacekeeping mission has been agreed by the UN Security Council since 2014.
On a referendum, McEntee said that to alter the Irish Constitution in relation to this would make it “more difficult for us to respond to the changing world, to respond to evolving threats”.
She also made the point that TDs are democratically elected and that the government’s removal of the triple lock is being done by democratic means.
Her comments come after Mary Lou McDonald on Tuesday accused the government of “pushing ahead” with the removal of the triple lock without consulting the people of Ireland.
She accused the government of “moving away from peacekeeping and towards military adventurism” and said scrapping the policy “opens the door for Ireland to be dragged deeper into EU military structures”.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin rejected these remarks as “outrageously hyperbolic”.
Includes reporting from Niall O’Connor in Trim
Dáil Éireann Neutrality October triple lock Irish Politics