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LAST UPDATE | 9 May 2023
THE TÁNAISTE HAS said that Ireland is not relying on the Royal Air Force to defend Irish skies.
Micheál Martin, speaking to reporters at the PDFORRA conference in Co Meath this afternoon, said that reports that there is a secret deal between British and Irish governments are “inaccurate”.
His denial comes as Gary Gannon, of the Social Democrats, called for Martin to confirm or deny whether Ireland has a deal with the UK Government to intercept rogue aircraft over Ireland.
Yesterday, The Irish Times reported that the UK are permitted to police Ireland’s airspace but that concerns had been raised by both ministers and military officials since the agreement came into place.
In September last year The Journal revealed that Senator Gerard Craughwell was suing the Government in an effort to compel them to state whether they have a deal with the British Government to intercept rogue aircraft over Ireland.
In that article it was said that it had been claimed by the Senator and other defence sources that a memorandum was signed with the British to provide a jet fighter response to incoming suspicious aircraft.
It was reported that this secret agreement between Ireland and the UK has been in place since the early 1950s and was extended following the 9/11 attacks in New York.
Gary Gannon, the Social Democrat’s spokesperson on defence, said that the report means that the Dáil should be permitted to scrutinise the policy.
Gannon said that it was a “reasonable” ask for Martin, who is Minister for Defence and Foreign Affairs, to explain the alleged deal.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy also called for the Government to publish all documentation related to the alleged deal.
Martin responded to this and denied there is a secret deal between the two Governments.
“We know our deficiencies have been outlined, that’s been outlined in the Commission on the Defence Forces. We don’t have sufficient radar right now.
“We’re not relying on (the RAF) as per reports, this week, we’re not. I think we need to have a sense of perspective and not to be jumping on every comment that is made, or every sort of story that is trending.
“I believe that that story is not accurate that was released during the week.
“We don’t talk about international security, or national security more generally but as I said, yesterday, we need to be clear on this that anything government, any agreements Government enters into, are fully aligned with national sovereignty and sovereign decision making, and also with military neutrality,” he said.
When asked about the reports in the Dáil this morning, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that he was limited in what he could say due to it being a national security issue.
“What I can say is that any arrangements we have in place are consistent with our foreign defence and security policy,” Varadkar told the Dáil.
“We have to put in arrangements for certain scenarios and we have arrangements for certain scenarios to assure our safety and national security.”
When put to the Government spokesperson that the Taoiseach appeared to indicate that there was an arrangement of sorts, they said Varadkar “was being very general there” in terms of his comments in the Dáil today.
It was also pointed out that such comments from the Taoiseach today appeared to jar with comments by both the Tánaiste today and also the former Defence Minister Simon Coveney.
Coveney told an Oireachtas Committee on Defence last July 2022: “We do not have overflight arrangements with the RAF, to be clear. That is not how it works. It has to apply to Ireland if it has an emergency reason to enter our airspace. Notification procedures relating occasions on when that happens are in place.”
It is worth noting that prior to any conflict between Russia and Ukraine, it was not uncommon for the RAF to enter Irish airspace when Russian aircraft entered without permission.
Additional reporting by Christina Finn
Comments closed as legal proceedings are ongoing.
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I hope so. As we are unable to.
@Paul Furey: But wait Paul. No other country can match us for the availability of spud missiles and the necessary hot air to get them into high orbit…
@Gerard Hayden: spud missiles mixed with hot air? We would roast them.
@Gerard Hayden: we’ve plenty of hot air in the form of Ryan to launch them.
@Paul Furey: Nah man, we have the Fisher men to defend our coast.
Opps! I made a fuux pas, is it Fisher people.
If the RAF are policing our sky’s and airspace then that is good as we have no proper defence system in place to look after our sky’s
@Paul Scully: We can’t keep saying we are Neutral though. We are a Protectorate of the UK.
@goldiefish72: Do we have Nuclear war heads no, RAF would not carry Nuclear weapons into our airspace
It’s pathetic in my opinion that we can’t defend our own territory. Relying on our former rulers makes it even worse.
@Brian Boru:
Would you rather have our future rulers overhead?
@Brian Boru: you would be the first to moan about the cost. Pointing out where all that money should be spent.
@Brian Boru: we have the fishermen…. Tut!!
@Brian Boru: defend from what I ask
I recall seeing a British fighter bomber patrolling the skies over Louth just after 9/11. I found it comforting, jihadis headbangers would have had no issue flying a civilian airliner into Sellafield etc.
It’s disgraceful we have no defence capabilities to meet various threats. Our anti aircraft missile system was shown to be inoperable when Biden visited.
Whoever set this agreement up did the right thing, but it deeply shames us as well.
The “what-about-our-neutrality” brigade evidently don’t understand the costs associated with true neutrality. This showboating from Gannon is boring.
@honey badger: exactly! To be neutral, you must be able to defend that neutrality. Finland didn’t care in the slightest about their loss of neutrality, albeit an enforced neutrality. Sweden doesn’t seem bothered either.
As an island nation we cannot protect ourselves in any way whatsoever.
A navy with ships and no sailors an Aer Corps with outdated planes, a badly paid under numbered Army….. And if we were invade…. Nowhere to put our prisoners of war!!
Yet the Greens are leading the way in fritting away millions on not needed projects!!
National security co-operation with UK should not be a soap-box for a splinter party.
The Social Democrats are just another example of doctrinaire minorities, which plague this country. They have power without responsibility and it shows, every chance they get.
@Antony Stack: it has been common knowledge for a long time. And what are those cl owns going to do when they find out? They’ll think themselves heroes.
Yes, because it is not a secret. Everyone knows the RAF and Royal Navy patrol our air and seas and we should be largely thankful for that.
What do these cl owns expect!!! Do they want us to establish and maintain an Airforce!!! That would cost us billions of Euros.
@Martin O Connell: we have an airforce already . did you not know ?
@Rian Lynch: we all know what Martin meant.
@Paul Furey: i know i couldnt help myself
@Rian Lynch: no we don’t!!! It’s called one, but it’s not an airforce!!! I have a mini bus!! That doesn’t make me “Bus eireann”.
@Rian Lynch: I hardly think a few propeller driven training craft and a couple of obsolete jets from the 1950’s constitutes an air force?
an f16 costs about 33 million from what i can find. thats unarmed. to maintain constant air cover over ireland would take approx 2 squadrons maybe 26 aircraft total with half flight ready at any time and keeping 2 aircraft in the air at all times. thats a cost of less than a billion to buy. i know the training running maintenance etc would bump the price but i think it would be achievable for ireland. there are cheaper aircraft too.
We are not in a position to defend ourselves if we were subject to an attack by an aggressor.
If Russians wanted to cut or tap into cables in our economic zone we are not in a position to stop them.
Therefore, while we very likely have an agreement for the RAF to help us in the event of Rogue aircraft or drones in our skies, I would not be one bit surprised if a separate agreement exists for the RN to help us should aggression come in our economic zone.
We need a proper well equipped military.
the world is changing, the idea of ireland being a neutral country on the western point of europe is ridiculous to be honest.
Does we have the capacity to defend our own airspace? If not, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.
@Steven Schulz: It was estimated recently that, if we joined NATO, we’d have to spend about 2 billion euro annually on defence alone.
Assuming there is a threat to our island, these days that’s likely to be from Russia, we cannot defend against them so we need assistance, if that comes from our nearest neighbours, the UK. So what? Not a nice way of putting it, but our enemies enemy is our friend, and if the UK is prepared to help us against enemies like Russia, they’re a very good friend.
@Boyne Shark: If Russia were to attack (very unlikely), a couple of planes will be all but useless againt them, every one of them would be shot out of the sky. These people that keep promoting nato and defense are great at selling fear.
@peter johnson: russia would be attacking without air support (unless they manage to get their wreck of a carrier moving without spontaneously combusting). so any modern aircraft ireland hypothetically had would be very very useful
@peter johnson: Lets be honest, we have nothing. No state of the art jets with fire and forget missiles, no warships capable of detecting enemy submarines, no submarines for that matter.
The Russians meanwhile have nuclear bombers which have flown into our airspace, they have warships and nuclear submarines which have been off our coast and are believed to be scouting undersea data cables should the current Ukraine ware escalate. It would be naive to believe Ireland could mount any defense but our neighbours certainly could and, as Ukraine have proven, if anyone would be getting shot out of the sky do you really think it’d be the RAF flying state of the art planes in their own back yard with backup or out of date Russian jets thousands of miles from home. Really?
The RAF are not protecting us……..we are allowing them in our airspace to protect themselves. Who do you think is most likely to be the target of a Russian attack? We just happen to be able to avail of the free side effects of the deal. It’s a win win. The alternative is to ask that guy that keeps flying his drone over Dublin airport to go and scare off the Russian fighter jets.
@Cable Stayed: exactly…a very well made point.
the effectiveness of a neutral country’s policies and diplomatic relations is more important than the size or strength of its military in maintaining its neutrality….we don’t need a large military to maintain our neutrality…having good diplomatic relations with other country’s and not interfering with conflicts is far superior to investing in a big military…
@William Slevin: Exactly, and Finland was never an issue for Russia until NATO went and made it one.
@peter johnson: having a large imperialist neighbour tends to make smaller countries nervous. hence finland joining a defensive alliance
@peter johnson: Finland had an enforced neutrality because that was part of an agreement made when Russia failed in 2 attempts to invade them. This didn’t stop Finland from becoming a very sophisticated military nation. NATO did not make Finland do anything ffs!! Russia invading Ukraine made Finland change their mind, for very obvious reasons. NATO aren’t also making Sweden join.
@peter johnson: Finland made it one.
@William Slevin:
Do we have good relations with Russia? Mr Filatov does’nt think so.
Compared to Finland, a country which is on Mr Putin’s shopping list we are a dismal case.
Rep Ireland v FInland
Population 5.0 mil 5.5 mil
GDP €504 bil €300 bil
Active Military 9.5 k 28 k
Reserve military 4.0k 254 k
paramilitary 0k 14k
Total 13,5k 292k
No bank bailout either.
What a spoofer,who does he think will defend our skies,we cant even defend our sea borders,what a farce
This coming from a tool who stated in the Dail that the banks weren’t bailed out!. The fact is that the RAF would be called in to help and police our skies if required. The “talent”in gov is astounding.
He’s right…there is no secret agreement……it’s been known about for years.
Just embarresing we need to grow a pair as a Country.
@David Rogerson: you ready to enlist and go fight a war on the front lines of a foreign war ready to die for a conflict with nothing to do with us until we make so like the US?
Well yeah, you have to as Ireland has no military.
@Yvon Queguiner: you spout so much rubbish when it comes to the defence forces, it is so obvious you know absolutely nothing about them. Try and educate yourself before writing your nonsense
The good news is that the RAF, RN and British forces are full of Irish anyway!
So we don’t have an agreement unless there’s an emergency and they need to. So we DO have an agreement then.
Talking out of his Aras!!!
: /
@paul furher:”@peter johnson: Finland had an enforced neutrality because that was part of an agreement made when Russia failed in 2 attempts to invade them. This didn’t stop Finland from becoming a very sophisticated military nation. NATO did not make Finland do anything ffs!! Russia invading Ukraine made Finland change their mind, for very obvious reasons. NATO aren’t also making Sweden join.”
Reread Peter Johnsons comment again he never said NATO finland do anything…so you might want to correct yourself their….and he is right NATO/US made it into an issue giving the russain establishment the excuse it wanted to invade Ukraine with all the US interference in ukraine for the previous decade before the war…so the US could have a proxy war with Russia the US using Ukraine as its proxy and the Ukrainian people as human sacrifices for profit of the US establishment and when the US abandons Ukraine as it abandons everywhere it gets involved Russia will get what it wants and take Ukraine….
@William Slevin: Ireland may be a ” neutral” country but if push comes to shove, we are unable to defend that neutrality. Unlike other neutral nations, our military is not large enough. Look at the likes of countries like Sweden and Switzerland, neutral nations that are military strong enoufh to defend it.
@William Slevin: name calling and insulting again. And don’t you just hop mad when someone dares call you any old sort of a name.
We can patrol our skies but defend them no a snowballs chance in hell.
We should have tackled the Brits with our highest power water pistols… Show them who’s boss
Defend from what I ask
@paul furher:”@William Slevin: name calling and insulting again. And don’t you just hop mad when someone dares call you any old sort of a name.”
Furher What are you trying to say their….you having a stroke their lil guy…I see you own pop up when someone else comments…gots no balls do ya furher…where ya castrated? Lol
Eye for an eye furher your one of the worst sly slithering on your belly kind on here…your the runt on the dogpiles last one and only when theirs others to do the heavey lifting on here for you…
So yes with you I insult for the reasons given…
In order to be a ‘Neutral’ country ireland will need to invest into a military that can protect and enforce that Neutrality. You only have to look at similar neutral countries like Switzerland and you can see straight away that they invest heavily in a defence force that can act as a deterant to anyone wishing to change that status.
Ireland does not own jets capable of going above 10k feet so are useless and they cannot detect and planes once they switch their transponders off. This is dangerous for Irelands civil aviation industry.
By relying on a third party to monitor and use Irish airspace to intercept russian bombers in order to protect that airspace, automatically means that neutrality is compromised. Its as simple as that. If Ireland wants to get serious about its neutality then it will need to invest in a military that can be fully independent and protect that Neutrality and it will not be cheap. Otherwise countries like Russia will just see Ireland as a protected colony of the UK and an easy entry into attacking the uk.
I don’t think we have much to fear from Russia only total annihilation along with our neighbours so neutrality won’t come in to it, what we shud be more vigilant about is the treat from within, war is one thing but unrest is another and at the moment we have a gov that’s going out of its way to cause it, there is no consultation between the gov and the people, just being elected seems to be green light for doing what they please, soon we won’t be able to critise them, speak ur mind, have an opinion that u can express, succumb to the ideas of delusional groups who won’t accept reality, unsustainable immigration, blatant greed and skulduggery, thumb firmly on our own people, Leo claims its democracy, but when it’s being done willingly at the behest of the EU that’s not very democratic
@athony stack: whys that…why do you think now were not on good terms with Russia….maybe does it have anything to do with our liability of a government especially Martin nearly dragging us into a war with Russia…seriously the shit he said no nato member state would have said about one of its citizens fighting and dying for Ukraine fighting against Russia because they know the implications and how it could be taken…but oh no Martin and his over inflated ego thinks he is one if the big boys and nearly dragged us into war with Russia….
The government is doing its best to destroy our neutrality when they should be dealing with the Ukraine Russian war with diplomacy but their not so it now has caused bad relations with Russia…now their looking to antagonise China about Taiwan…their morons…
@William Slevin: Being neutral doesn’t mean we can’t recognize who the bad guys are.
@John Madden: it means we have cop on…on an official level and provide diplomacy…keeping it neutral….
have your say