What does 'Irish neutrality' mean? What is its value? Lara Marlowe channels the new Panzerliberalismus

The Irish Times has in recent weeks run slews of op-eds - a couple by people who know about war like Lara Marlowe, and many by 'liberal' or Fine Gael drones like the terribly 'serious' but crass and biased Stephen Collins - which criticize or simply mock Irish neutrality. And indeed we need much more creative thinking, public creative thinking, about what 'our neutrality' might be. Too often, and very often on the Left, invoking it is merely a reflex. But the standard of criticism and analysis is also too often pathetic - too often it's about Ireland's putative 'ignorance' or 'immaturity', which can only be corrected by EU-led 'enlightenment' or by 'recognising reality' in joining NATO.

Lara Marlowe, a veteran and courageous war correspondent, should know better than purveying Russophobia and parroting uncritically the opinions of pro-military scholars. But alas no - she recently was writing a distinctly minatory article, channelling a German military academic (just one source!!!). So I wrote a letter in reply. Needless to say, it went unpublished.

Here it is now:

November 14, 2025

Dear Sir

Lara Marlowe ('Does anyone believe that Russia would respect Irish neutrality in a major war in Europe?', Irish Times, Friday Nov 14, 2025), quoting Professor Carlo Masala, tells us that Russia would not respect Irish neutrality in a major war in Europe.

Marlowe and Masala have a point - Russian ships enter Irish waters regularly, Russian reconnaissance aircraft overfly Irish territory without their transponders on on a regular basis. But we must note a couple of things about this article and its argument; First, Prof Masala is a staffer at the Bundeswehr University in Munich i.e. he's part of the German military-university complex, or the equivalent of a scholar embedded at West Point in America or Sandhurst in Britain. He's a military man and he has every confidence in the beneficence of German re-militarisation. Others just might beg to differ.

Second, NATO already deploys ships in Irish waters and its planes overfly Irish territory. No doubt mostly with permission, but Ireland hasn't even the technology to monitor 'friendly' interventions. So the real question Ms Marlowe might like to ask herself is this: would NATO respect Irish neutrality in a major war in Europe? Recent statements by British officers suggest that it would not - see Former Admiral warns united Ireland poses UK security risk - and we all remember - don't we? - Churchill's statement at the end of World War 2 that Britain considered violating Irish neutrality to serve military expediency in the 1940s.

Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose.

yours sincerely

Conor McCarthy