This paper explores how Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has brought a new focus on Irish neutrality and what it means in a changed European Security context. Against the backdrop of increased geopolitical tensions, some European neutrals are reconsidering their status as neutral countries, with Sweden and Finland choosing to join NATO. 

The changing character of warfare, including the proliferation of hybrid threats such as cyberattacks, disinformation, espionage, sabotage, and the instrumentalisation of energy and migration, coupled with a new reality where war is often undeclared, has put neutrality as a concept under increased strain. This paper explores how Irish neutrality has responded to these circumstances, including the immediate pressures posed by Russia’s full-scale invasion. The paper argues that Irish neutrality is fluid and enjoys a ‘mosaic quality’ whereby it is comprised of many different concepts and subject to multiple, and sometimes competing interpretations, and that it is this fluidity that has enabled Ireland’s policy of military neutrality to endure.