THE Government has been accused of “sleepwalking” us into a European army as it gets set to enter two military agreements.

At Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting, Ministers were presented with a memo seeking the OK to allow us to ratify two Status of Forces Agreements, otherwise known as SOFAs.

Tanaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney

One of these is with our allies in the European Union while the other is with Nato.

The pitch was made by Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney, on behalf of Defence Minister Paul Kehoe.

Ministers heard SOFAs are “designed to regulate the legal and administrative arrangements for members of foreign forces operating within the State” they are deployed.

They “provide for the rights, obligations, entitlements, privileges and immunities of military personnel when deployed overseas, and deal with matters such as jurisdiction and applicable law”.

Defence Minister Paul Kehoe

In practice, this means they allow for “legal certainty” around “the recognition of driving licences, visa regulations, taxation, wearing of uniforms, criminal and disciplinary jurisdiction, the protection of military camps, records and information as well as claims and liabilities”.

The Tanaiste said ratifying the agreements would remove a barrier which has prevented our Defence Forces from taking part in some “international training exercises”.

But Deputy Gino Kenny told the Irish Sun that our long-standing policy of neutrality is being ebbed away.

The signal to ratify the SOFAs comes after we joined the “Pesco” defence pact between member states, signing up to military training and maritime surveillance projects.

And the People Before Profit TD said: “This is yet another step towards a common European and NATO policy of defence.

“The Government will say that is not so and we are just living up to our obligations as EU members.But any sort of militarisation of Europe is contrary to what people believe the union should be about.

“Ireland is slowly sleepwalking towards a European Army through agreements like PESCO and now these SOFAs.

“At this stage Ireland is no longer neutral. We are now supervising and availing of other Armies’ equipment.

“And we are taking part in other armies’ deployments . Eventually you won’t know which force is which. This is a precursor to a European Army.”

Deputy Gino Kenny

Currently, the Dail must sign off on any peacekeeping or military deployments abroad - in what is known as the triple lock.

And at the Cabinet meeting the Ministers were told that the triple lock would continue to apply as “any decision on overseas deployments remains a matter for Government and the Dail”.

A Government spokesman added: “The signing of these agreements in no way impacts on our policy of military neutrality.

“They place no obligations on us in terms of future deployments, or future military actions. They concern only the privileges, immunities, rights and obligations of our Defence Forces when overseas.

“Given Ireland’s constitutional prohibition to receive and base foreign troops on its territory, the reciprocal nature of these SOFAs does not apply. The SOFAs will not apply in respect of foreign forces in Ireland.”

But Deputy Kenny says the door is now open for closer military alignment with forces around Europe.

He told us: “Just look at what is going on in Shannon where militarised equipment and aircraft are coming through the airport. So how can we be asked to believe other Armies won’t be deployed here when that is going on?

“Ireland will end up being sucked into wars that have got nothing whatsoever to do with us.

“So we totally oppose these moves to a common militarisation.

“The Government always references the triple lock, which says we won’t be drawn into any sort of policy without the agreement of the Dail. But there are lot of measures that are no more than optics. And in reality Ireland is slowly becoming more involved in military exercises we should not be. Alarm bells should be ringing when you hear agreements that mention NATO.

“It is inevitable that a European Army would be dragged into a conflict with the competition going on between the United States, China and the Middle East. We would almost certainly be drawn into wars.”