Councillor claims Cork Navy conference is an ‘attempt to undermine Irish neutrality’

A member of Cork City Council has condemned the meeting in Cobh of a group of European naval chiefs — of which Ireland is currently president — as an attempt to promote Irish membership of Nato.

Ted Tynan, Workers’ Party councillor, who represents the Cork City northeast ward, said the annual Chiefs of European Navies (CHENS) conference, in Cobh, was “another step towards Ireland’s membership of Nato”.

Mr Tynan, who is president of The Workers’ Party, said that the drive to Nato membership came despite opinion polls showing that Irish people are opposed to the abandonment of Ireland’s military neutrality. 

CHENS is an informal, independent and non-political forum. Its membership includes the chief of navy of each European maritime nation, among them countries that are either a member of Nato and/or the EU and has naval armed forces.

According to the Irish Defence Forces, CHENS promotes understanding between the navies of the member countries and examines issues of “common and mutual interest” and increases awareness of the maritime domain in member countries.

There are 27 member countries with the European Military Staff (EUMS), Nato’s Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM), and United States Navy, deployed in Europe invited to CHENS as observers.

Ireland holds the presidency of the CHENS conference, and previously hosted the conference in 2001.

The theme of the conference is ‘Naval Implementation of Emergent and Disruptive Technologies’, and a spokesperson for the Defence Forces said that Ireland was due to discuss its drone surveillance system, Guard Project.

Flag Officer Commanding the Naval Service, Commodore Michael Malone said: “It is an honour for me and for the Irish navy to preside over the presidency of CHENS.

“CHENS continues to be a valued platform to ensure naval relevance in a rapidly changing future as we continue to find innovative solutions to our shared challenge of leading navies that are always moving forward, modernising and diversifying”.

However, Mr Tynan claimed that Russia’s illegal war against Ukraine is being exploited to undermine Irish neutrality.

“Ireland should have no part in military activities which are not under the control of the UN and should be strictly controlled under the triple lock system,” Mr Tynan said.