Stephen Collins: A diplomat wondered why we outsource our defence to the British. He has a point

A diplomat from an eastern European country remarked to me recently that he could understand Irish neutrality, even though he didn’t like it. But what he found incomprehensible was the unwillingness of Irish people to take any serious interest in defending themselves.

The widespread indifference to our own defence has continued in spite of clear evidence in recent years that we are vulnerable to attack from powers hostile to the European Union and Western democracy.

Russian naval manoeuvres off our West coast last year made it very clear that the undersea cables linking us to the rest of the world could be destroyed in an instant. The Russian air force regularly intrudes into our air space. At a more practical level, much of the population was affected by the Russian-based cyber attack on the HSE last year.

“It seems to me that for all the celebrations of your 100 years of independence, Irish people are happy to have your country defended by the British at no cost to yourselves,” said the diplomat.

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Successive governments have allowed defence spending to be depleted to the extent that the Army is now less than 8,000 strong, two of the Navy’s six patrol vessels have been mothballed for lack of crew and we have no capacity to conduct undersea surveillance or combat planes to patrol our air space.

Writing in the London Daily Telegraph during President Biden’s recent visit to Ireland, former British army colonel Richard Kemp noted that the burden of defending Irish airspace had been placed on the RAF. “British jets have reportedly scrambled on numerous occasions to intercept Russian planes entering Irish airspace. Ireland’s vulnerability to pretty much all forms of attack has to be covered by British and other Nato forces.”

Whether we like it or not, Kemp had a valid point. We spend less than 0.3 per cent of our budget on defence, the lowest by far in the EU, yet wallow in the notion that our neutrality confers on us some sort of moral superiority over those who are actually protecting us.

The situation was examined in detail by the Commission on Defence Forces, which reported to the Government last year with a series of suggestions, including a significant increase in spending across all three branches of the Defence Forces and the recruitment of an extra 6,000 personnel.

At a crossroads

In a more recent development, Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin has announced a consultative forum on international security policy, which will meet over the summer. Speaking last week at the launch of a comprehensive history of the Defence Forces by historian Eoin Kinsella, the Tánaiste acknowledged that Ireland now stands at a crossroads in terms of the role of the Army, Naval Service, Air Corps and Reserves.

Contrast the rapid response of Finland and Sweden to the changing international order over the past 12 months with the snail’s pace of the Irish approach

“We have to enable them to recruit and retain the personnel they need to perform their core functions. We have to invest in equipment and facilities which are relevant to today’s world, rather than the past,” he said.

The consultative forum is all very well, but unless it results in rapid action to remedy the clear deficiencies in our defence it will join the growing list of reports and recommendations gathering dust on the shelves of Government departments.

Contrast the rapid response of Finland and Sweden to the changing international order over the past 12 months with the snail’s pace of the Irish approach. It doesn’t mean that we should follow them into Nato, but unless reports and consultation are followed by action, we will be even more vulnerable to attack.

Given the current buoyant state of the public finances, there should be no obstacle to the provision of the resources needed to begin addressing the problem

Independent TD for Kildare South, Cathal Berry, who has considerable expertise in these matters, made the point that we need to face up to the fact that Ireland does not have the means to police our own airspace, territorial waters or land mass. Given the current buoyant state of the public finances, there should be no obstacle to the provision of the resources needed to begin addressing the problem.

If that is undertaken, it should be followed by a realistic reassessment of what neutrality means in today’s world. In his speech last week, the Tánaiste was clear that no higher purpose was being served by our inability to protect key infrastructure in our international waters – infrastructure which is central to supporting economic and social progress in our democracy.

He also said it was absurd to assume that we should never question long-held policies. “Personally, I think there is something morally wrong with the fact that an authoritarian and aggressive neo-imperialist power has a de facto veto on elements of how we as an independent republic react to any given situation.”

Martin was referring to the absurd “triple lock” arrangement whereby the deployment of more than 30 Irish troops on an international mission has to have the approval of the UN Security Council, as well as the Government and the Dáil. This means that Russia and China have a veto on Irish military policy.

Polls show there is strong public support for a shift in defence policy, but decisive leadership from Government is required to provide the necessary resources and also to face down the vocal lobby that opposes any change in our definition of neutrality.