Irish troops may go to Mali to replace French, Coveney tells Dáil

Minister for Defence Simon Coveney has not ruled out the Government sending a peacekeeping mission to Mali to replace French soldiers.

He told the Dáil on Tuesday that France had seen over 130 of its citizens mowed down or blown up on the streets of Paris. An Irish citizen had been seriously injured, he added.

If France redeployed troops in order to protect its own citizens at home and abroad, thereby creating gaps in peacekeeping missions in different parts of the world, Ireland would look at assisting the United Nations in such circumstances, he said.

“That is what Ireland does; we do peacekeeping and we do it well,’’ Mr Coveney added.

Irish neutrality

He said people should not try to link this with Irish neutrality, adding Ireland would look to be of assistance from “a UN perspective and from a good neighbour perspective, if you like” to France.

Independent TD Clare Daly insisted there was a link and said such a move by the Government would be strenuously resisted in the Dáil.

She claimed the Government and its predecessor had “an incredibly fluid” interpretation of what it meant to be a neutral country.

Ms Daly said while France was spread across many multiple peacekeeping operations, it was also the case that its president had announced the country was going to war.

Earlier, Mr Coveney said an attack on Ireland, following the Paris killings, was “possible but not likely”.