Minister Simon Coveney War Ethics
Complaint
- Standards in Public Office
Commission (SIPO) considering formal complaint against Minister Simon
Coveney for breaching Arcticle 28 of the Constitution in agreeing to
participate in the War in Ukraine without the assent of Dáil
Éireann
The
Standards in Public Office Commission (SIPO) has acknowledged that it
is considering a formal ethics complaint lodged
by ‘Safety Before LNG’ under
section 4 of the Standards
in Public Office Act 2001
against Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Simon Coveny
for
breaching
Article 28.3
of
Bunreacht na hÉireann in agreeing
to participate
in the war in Ukraine without the assent of Dáil
Éireann.
John McElligott of 'Safety
Before LNG' raised the following Separation of Powers concerns over comments
made by Minister Coveney at the John Fitzgerald Kennedy Centre in
Boston in April and his confirmation yesterday that Ireland will participate
in the
European Union's training mission for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which is expected
to get under way in mid-November
:
Article 28.3.1
states "War shall not be declared
and the State shall not participate in any war save with the assent of
Dáil
Éireann".
It is a Constitutional
crisis if the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence (and by
consequence the
Government) moves with impunity to participate in the war in Ukraine
without
getting the permission of Dáil Éireann contrary to
Article 28 and there is no
means to enforce any oversight of these moves.
The fact is that
Minister Coveney (and by consequence the Government) has decided to
participate
in the war in Ukraine but has done so, for whatever reason, without
getting the
explicit permission of Dáil Éireann.
It does not
matter if one is pro-war or anti-war, pro-neutrality or anti-neutrality
because
when it comes to obeying the Constitution, Article 28 must be adhered
to and
nobody in the Government, no matter how powerful an individual, can act
ultra vires and
assume powers explicitly
forbidden by the Constitution.
Speaking at the John
Fitzgerald Kennedy
Centre in
Boston on April 29th, 2022, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon
Coveney TD,
stated: "Ireland has so far
committed 33 million Euros to support the Ukrainian military".
His words accepted that there is a war
in Ukraine ("a war like this")
and he twice said that Ireland would support Ukraine militarily. Minister
Coveney said:
"We're
doing the obvious things. So you know Ireland
has so far committed 33 million Euros to support
the Ukrainian military which is something that's very unusual
for Ireland but let
me just be very clear while Ireland
is a neutral country which is defined as we are not militarily aligned
to any
defence pact or alliance but we are not neutral when it comes to a war like this and we're not
neutral on many conflicts around the world and tried to provide a a
perspective
that is about peace a humanitarian-based approach a multi-lateral
problem-solving approach and so on so you know we've uh we
are funding as is every other country in the European union uh the
Ukrainians
to try and defend themselves"
[...]
"because ultimately there needs to
be a
political solution a diplomatic or series of diplomatic interventions
that can
create a basis for a ceasefire a basis for for peace um and it's really
important that we don't lose sight of that in our support of military
campaigns
um or uh or accountability you know in front of an international court"
[...]
"so there's no simplistic win here
um and that
is why um we continue to support Ukraine in every way we can
politically, militarily, legally
and on all of the
platforms that we can that we can generate support".
On
October 17th, 2022 it was reported on RTÉ
that "Minister
for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney has said
that Ireland will participate in
the
European Union's training mission for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, which
is expected
to get under way in mid-November".
The Code
of Conduct for Office Holders
clearly outlines the
principles which should guide officer holders and which I believe that
Minister
Coveney has breached. I believe strongly that the acts
complained of are
inconsistent with the functions and the proper performance of the
functions of Minister,
are inconsistent with the maintenance of confidence in such performance
and is
one of significant public importance because a deliberate breach of the
Constitution to assume powers to participate in a war without the
assent of
Dáil Éireann has hugely-adverse national and
international consequences and
brings about a Constitutional Crisis if there is no oversight of that
decision.
.
View the full complaint here
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