Military neutrality has long held an important place in the Irish national psyche with polls consistently showing strong support for the concept. This support has remained solid even in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in early 2022, an invasion which caused some other neutral EU countries to seriously evaluate their security stances.

In his remarks, Conor Gallagher shares his view that today, the Irish version of neutrality seems uniquely narrow and appears, in the eyes of the Government at least, to comprise of simply staying out of NATO or an EU common defence pact. However, Mr Gallagher believes that many Irish people view neutrality as encompassing something complex and ambitious, but there is little agreement on what that is.

About the Speaker:

Conor Gallagher is the Crime and Security Correspondent for The Irish Times where he reports on issues concerning defence and state security, including developments in the Defence Forces and the rise of hybrid threats. He joined the newspaper in 2017. He recently published Is Ireland Neutral?, a book examining the evolving definitions of Irish neutrality in the decades since independence and its future in an increasingly uncertain world. He is a graduate of the DCU journalism program and has a Master’s Degree in Political Communications.