Devine, Karen
(2009)
Irish neutrality and the Lisbon Treaty.
In: Neutrality: Irish Experience, European Experience, 8-9 May 2009, Irish School of Ecumenics, Trinity College, Dublin.
One of the main themes of the conference focused on the definition of neutrality. The convenors of the conference frequently raised the question, “what do we mean when we talk of ‘neutrality’?” This paper explains the differences between the public concept of neutrality and government concepts of ‘military neutrality’ and evaluates whether the Lisbon Treaty, including the June 2009 ‘clarification’ declarations, contravene or protect neutrality.