If being an unaligned country with a large army is no deterrent to Putin's ambitions is it time for ROI to join Nato?
you make some good points tbf
but boiling it down , the public are too stupid to make decision that impact their own lives and needed cleverer people to do it for them.
This is one of my favourite quotes -
IMO The national interest or individual issue of national importance are probably the most important times to have a plebiscite
A significant amount of taxpayers money would be required to be spent in order to join and remain an ongoing active member of NATO. A significant extra responsibility would be placed upon the country and its citizens and military, that hasn’t existed before ….Therefore it’s prudent and proper that we as citizens would have a say on joining….
those in favour and those against can campaign, persuade and orate as to their hearts content…. As should be the way as regards such important decisions in a democracy….
too
irish money => big gun
zero benefit
I never said we should join NATO.
the biggest takeaway from his post is that perhaps some people shouldn't be allowed to vote
Before going down the road of a referendum (and its debatable if that’s a good idea or not) you have to ask would NATO want Ireland as a member?
There has to be full consensus from all existing members for all new members to join. We wouldn’t exactly be bringing much to the party, other than our geographical location which in order to leverage we’d need to open up to other NATO countries.
That means NATO ships using Irish ports, NATO planes using Irish airbases, and possibly the presence of overseas military personnel in Ireland to support this.
I can’t ever see a public vote supporting that. The usual suspects would be out on the streets with their anti American / anti Brit ranting.
Yes to a vote, only if it's a constitutional change, otherwise let the government govern.
Personally, I'd have to give it more thought and investigation but at the moment I'd probably vote yes.
We are so vulnerable defence wise.
An army with a few thousand men and a couple of tanks could roll in and invade us tomorrow and we couldn’t stop it.
Events in Russia at the weekend showed we really need to up our game.
Europe is changing dramatically since the invasion of Ukraine.
No to a vote. We vote in a government to decide these things on our behalf.
Cannot see how they could put it public vote without having to put every decision to public vote. Doesn't make sense.
Can't see how a referendum could be called about it, it wouldn't require a constitutional change.
And I think we should join NATO
No we don't. We vote them in to fulfil our will, and not just do as they please. No surprise though to see you giving full support to another recent state policy.
they would drown trying to get here
Yes.
And I would go a step further than that... I think the citizens of nations should have a say in whether their country goes to war also. Why not? It's a crucially important decision for any nation and for all of human civilisation - especially when you factor in the presence of nuclear weapons etc.
There are too many militaristic types in society. You can see it even on this forum, certain posters who seem to think armed conflict is cool - like it's call of duty or something! And they see enemies that need to be confronted and defeated everywhere they look.
That's not the world I want to live in. And I don't believe that's the vision most rational and sensible people want either.
No. We vote them in to run the country.
agreed cos they're stupid.
while I agree they are stupid - this is the part I agree with BUT the betters aren't any better (IMO) and the stupid proles should have a say in their own demise .
Vulnerable to who, exactly? Ireland has no natural resources and is at the periphery of Europe so no country has claims on its territory. There's no reason to join NATO.
Do you not find there's huge hypocrisy in us as a 'neutral' nation relying on NATO members for protection though?
We're only in a position to be neutral the way we are because others chose not to be neutral. Always reminds me of this cartoon:
i think you missed the point of my post, no voting for you either
no they should cop the fook on and be neutral too
what we need is more neutral less dopey fooks
the reality is nuclear, nearly 80 years of it, the rest is chicken feed
no matter what we do we will be relying on others for our protection, so its all pointless really
just like the Europe relies on the US for its defence
This has nothing to do with our neutrality. We can join NATO and remain Neatral.
The world is changing g and Europe is too weather we like it or not. We should be in PESCO and NATO
And the country is meant to be driven by the will of the majority. It's the literal basis of democracy.
democracy
de·moc·ra·cy di-ˈmä-krə-sē
pluraldemocracies
Synonyms of democracy
1
a
: government by the people
especially : rule of the majority
b
: a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections
What a well put together, thought out post.
We can join NATO and remain Neatral.
This is impressive, even for boards.
No we can't
No NATO more TAYTO
NO NATO MORE TAYTO
feel free to tear it apart with your massive intellect
Not like we were invaded before I suppose.
And it’s not like we have huge wind and tide resources when fossil fuel eventually runs out and the world is scrambling for energy.
Thank you. It's true.
The vikings are just waiting for us to let our guard down.....
Agree totally on this. Our freedoms are built on the blood of other nations' sons and daughters and we appear to be OK with that. Screw doing our bit in the most open economy in the world where we benefit from these freedoms more than almost any other country. Furthermore, we have zero capacity to defend ourselves and contract out our defence to the UK. Funny kind of sovereignty we have here. Our position on defence is shameful imo.
which Neutral countries are in Nato?
When someone tells me what our Neutrality means and what will change, I’ll think about.
Now, should we have an organised forum to discuss this or use loudspeakers and placards and spout baseless, fear mongering accusations?
