The Russian menace has stirred the nation from its long and dishonourable torpor
Published: 4 March 2025
It has been more than a century since Irish independence. But until now threats to national security have not seriously troubled politicians in the Republic of Ireland. The country has worn its neutrality and its tiny contingents of United Nations peace-keepers like a comfort blanket.
Apart from the Second World War – which it called The Emergency, and during which 70,000 quietly joined the British forces, and the Irish government assisted the Allies covertly – it is only now that the Irish political class have accepted that the country and its taxpayers have to take responsibility for self-defence. We can no longer leave that job to our neighbours.
The Irish army is a joke. Its active establishment at last count was 7,520, with a reserve establishment of 3,869. Neither is up to strength. Few young people with aspirations for a military career see the point. The proud tradition of Irish soldiers and sailors as part of the British Empire, when many won the highest award for valour, has been forgotten. The navy barely exists.
Until recently it was a dirty little secret that we had an understanding with the RAF: if we were in trouble, we could call on them for discreet help. In November, for instance, the Royal Navy tracked a Russian spy ship straying close to undersea cables in the Irish Sea. This was less than 24 hours after RAF jets had been scrambled to monitor a Russian reconnaissance plane flying close to UK airspace. Attention was scarcely drawn to these incidents to stop extreme nationalists from getting excited.
Yet in the last year there has been a dawning realisation that Ireland is on a suicidal course. Despite being one of the richest countries in Europe, it has a miniscule defence budget: it spends €1.1 billion annually on the army, navy and air corps of which a quarter covers pensions. Ireland is an unwitting enemy within the West because her territorial waters and her economic zone are vulnerable. The realisation that Russia is threatening military exercises in Irish international waters while the government has no idea who is intruding into Irish airspace and waters is chilling. And now Ireland faces the wrath of Donald Trump, who threatens the economy by pulling the rug from under the American corporations who use Ireland as a tax haven. He has shaken up the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs enough that the government plans to double defence spending.
The Commission on the future of the Defence Forces has called for €3 billion a year over the next ten years. This will be spent on a military radar system, 24 fighter jets and several new ships, as well as a complete revamp of the armed forces. The objective is to be able to emulate Norway and Switzerland – both countries are neutral and properly equipped.
This being Ireland, there will be a citizens’ assembly and a national debate, but no amount of blether can alter that fact that, to paraphrase W.B. Yeats, all has changed utterly.
