MORE than a dozen Irish companies have links with the arms trade and military industry, in spite of Ireland's policy of military neutrality. Many are subsidised by taxpayers' money, a report by the solidarity group, AfrI (Action from Ireland), has found.
Five of 14 companies identified in the three year research project have confirmed associations with the military industry. The report, due to be published today, says armoured vehicle technology, military avionics, radar equipment and gun turret components are among the items produced and exported by Irish firms.
The National Micro Electronics Research Centre at University College, Cork (UCC), also identified, has denied its testing for leading multinationals constitutes a military link.
The AFrI findings have been presented to the Department of Foreign Affairs, and conflict with the assertion in the recent White Paper on Foreign Policy that the Republic has "no indigenous arms industry, and thus no economic dependence on arms exports". In one instance, Irish made radar equipment has been used by the armed forces of Turkey and Saudi Arabia, the report says.
Evidence in the report focuses on a cluster of electronics and aerospace companies, particularly in Cork and Clare/Shannon. The trade is accepted tacitly at official level, because the production is classified as "dual use" meaning that it can be put to civilian or military application.
Under the 1995 EU revised export control system, dual use goods are allowed freedom of movement within the EU, and to exempted countries such as Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the US.
"Dual use goods" are a euphemism for "defence related" industry, according to AFrI, which says that such goods can be intended for incorporation into larger weapons systems. Many of the firms named in the report are subsidised through the IDA. The possession of the manufacturing seal, "MIL STDS" which is issued by the US Department of Defence, indicates that a firm may be involved in military related production, it says.
The report emphasises that this seal or standard covers goods not exclusively "military specific". The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration was the first to produce a set of procedures, specifications and systems, known as "MIL". In 1983, an agreement signed by the Institute for Industrial Research and Standards and the US Department of Defence authorised the IIRS (now known as the National Standards Authority Ireland) to administer this standard here.
The report also covers the North, where Shorts is already described as "reaping the peace dividend" through a new contract to supply missiles for the British army's latest batch of Apache attack helicopters. Shorts also recently announced a $3.2 million contract with the US army to begin tests of the Starstreak missile for Apache helicopters.
Shorts's reliance on military work is likely to increase, following the loss of commercial work for Fokker, and future US investment could entail an element of military production, the report says.
Mr Joe Murray, of AFrI, says military related industrial activity is not a major part of the Irish economy. The solidarity group is calling on the Government and the IDA to ensure that Ireland discontinues such links, and to tackle the issue of the $156 billion arms business during the EU presidency.
"If these companies do disengage, the impact on employment will not be significant," he said.
But Ireland's reputation for highly qualified personnel and favourable conditions for foreign investment were increasingly attractive to firms wishing to capitalise by producing military related technology for export.
