As Ireland goes to the polls to elect a new President, politicians, military leaders and foreign policy wonks are wondering if the next Commander-in-Chief will preside over the end of Ireland’s much-debated triple lock, the rule that prevents Irish troops being deployed overseas without UN approval. 

It’s a debate that lands just as the United Nations turns 80, an age that invites both celebration and soul-searching. The UN was born in 1945 to keep peace and security in the wake of the Second World War. Yet in 2025, it looks increasingly powerless — gridlocked on Gaza, paralysed on Ukraine, mocked by Donald Trump, and sidelined on global crises from climate to migration. 

Has the UN simply grown too old for the world it was meant to keep secure? And if Ireland untethers itself from the triple lock, does that mark a quiet farewell to neutrality — or an overdue step toward independence in foreign policy? 

On today’s podcast, Shane Beatty speaks with Dr Ben Tonra, Professor of International Relations at UCD, to explore whether the United Nations is still fit for purpose. Shane also hears from Jim Clarken, CEO of Oxfam Ireland, who’s calling for a dramatic overhaul of the Security Council and an end to the “stranglehold of the Big Five.” 

Happy United Nations Day, listeners! 

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