Ireland gained partial freedom from Britain after a national war of liberation fought by the Irish Republican Army, a guerilla movement of civilians who banded together into military structures to finally repulse and remove the British colonial occupation of our nation.

Unfortunately, Ireland was no longer a homogenous unit due to the ethnic cleansing of lands in the North East of Ireland, followed by the settlement and colonisation of the land east of the Bann River around counties Antrim and Down during the reign of King James 1.

A total of over 500,000 acres in counties Donegal, Armagh, Tyrone, Cavan and Fermanagh were colonised. The settlers were mainly Protestants from Southern Scotland and Northern England. 

This settler-colonial group never integrated or assimilated with the indigenous population and remained a foreign alien thorn in the body politic of Ireland.

After the national War of Independence, the country was partitioned in 1921/1922, thus creating two states on the island of Ireland.

The British then went on to do the same in separating Palestine into "Israel" and Palestine, India into India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. 

The old colonial divide and rule template can be seen in the division of Korea, North and South, the balkanisation of Yugoslavia, the occupation of Syria, and the destruction of Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya to name but a few in more contemporary times.

We can witness the same European divisions in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, which has led to continuing conflict both internally and externally on the borders of the countries created by the European military and colonial occupation on every continent on the globe.

Irish neutrality is and has been a cornerstone of the present-day state.

Having suffered from the world’s longest military occupation, it is fundamental to the Irish psyche not to become, what for centuries we fought against: and that is the imperialist and colonialist doctrines of occupation and exploitation. 

Did the Irish invade, colonise or occupy other lands and peoples? 

No.

There is a shameful history here of Irish men, like the Scots and Welsh joining British regiments and fighting in their immoral illegal wars of conquest.

Many claim this was done out of necessity. They argue there was no work at home, families needed to be fed and the army offered a regular income.

It is sad to say many colonised countries from Australia to India, The Gurkhas and Pakistani peoples have all joined the British military war machine. 

One aspect of colonial exploitation is the use of the indigenous population as a source of cheap labour, thus exploiting both the workforce and the natural resources of the country, thereby enriching the occupier while impoverishing the native. 

The classic imperialist plan that leaves those occupied relying on the occupier for economic sustenance. 

During World War Two, the British asked the Irish government to be given access to the Irish sea ports on the western Atlantic seaboard.

This request was denied.

The people of Ireland must never allow their sovereign independence to be compromised.

We have a respect for international law and a good reputation abroad.

However, the Irish people and the Irish government are not one and the same.

There has been no plebiscite in Ireland on changing Ireland's policy on Neutrality yet, that's exactly what successive governments have done.

Shannon Watch, an organisation of concerned citizens, records the movements of American military aircraft through Shannon Airport, where they refuel en route to the Middle East and other destinations.

The Irish state stands accused of facilitating American wars and their interference in the Middle East, West Asia, as troop transports refuel in Ireland, de facto aiding the American military-industrial complex in its endless wars of conflict and exploitation. 

It is claimed that Shannon Airport was used during the extrajudicial rendition of prisoners kidnapped by American forces and taken to black operational sites to be tortured - and perhaps face a more deadlier end?

From supporting the American war cartels, it now appears the Irish government have agreed to train Ukrainian Nazis in Ireland to continue their genocide in Eastern Donbas.

This is a clear violation of Irish Neutrality. 

To take sides in a current conflict is a flagrant abuse of our Constitution.

While Ireland may be a member of the European Union, it is not a member of NATO, although there were concerns it might join a new European army.

Those ideas I fear have bitten the dust with America's war on Russia, having drawn the EU and NATO into the conflict. I think America has successfully consigned an EU army to the dustbin of history.

In whose name and with what power does the Irish government so casually throw away our cherished Neutrality? 

Will we, like Finland, simply have a vote in parliament without the people's consent and join NATO, thrusting us into any conflict American foreign policy wants to embroil Europe in?

Well, they don't have my consent and the sooner we, the Irish people, stand up against these corrupt, incorrigible politicians, the better.

Having been subjected to 800 years of brutal occupation, we must never legitimise that occupation by joining our oppressors in oppressing other nations or people on any continent, anywhere in the world.