Sir, – In response to a 2022 Government report which concluded that Ireland “has no air defence capability of any significance”, Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Micheál Martin states, “We don’t talk about national security”. That the Minister responsible has nothing to say about the fact that the nation has no defence is touchingly honest, if likely to put spin doctors as well as the Defence Forces out of business. – Yours, etc,
Dr JOHN DOHERTY,
Gaoth Dobhair
Co Dhún na nGall.
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Sir, – It seems that we have an “air defence agreement” with the UK (News, May 8th). I trust we have similar agreements for land and sea defence. – Yours, etc,
AJ MULLOWNEY,
Kildare.
Sir, – Diarmaid Ferriter’s article “Irish neutrality isn’t as plain as we have been lead to believe” (Opinion & Analysis, May 12th) is indeed interesting. We have never been strictly neutral. During the second World War, or the Emergency, we were neutral on the side of the Allies, and rightly so. During the cold war, we were neutral on the side of the West, again rightly so. Unquestionably, we are currently defenceless, unable to effectively monitor or patrol our territorial waters and areas of interest. The long-overdue discussions on defence and foreign policy, as mentioned by Tánaiste Micheál Martin, will be an opportunity for the Irish public to have their say. Whether we decide to join a defence and security alliance, which I believe would give us better protection, or decide to stay military unaligned, or neutral, Goverment needs to provide adequately for defence.
Our current situation is simply untenable. – Yours, etc,
CONOR HOGARTY,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
A chara, – Let us be clear about Irish “neutrality”. We are neither politically nor militarily neutral. Politically, we are part of the European Union and the West as a whole.
Our fate has always been inseparable from those of Britain, France, and the US, in particular.
Militarily, we are a Nato protectorate. We have adopted a deliberate policy of freeloading on its members. When enemy ships or aircraft violate our sovereignty, we rely on Nato to drive them out. Similar to other protectorates, we no longer have a meaningful independent military capacity. The recent situation whereby the Naval Service could not man a ship to survey Russian vessels stationed over our critical trans-Atlantic cables was a national humiliation.
One of the most basic requirements for a sovereign state is to maintain a meaningful military defence for its citizens. Underspending on defence means freeloading on Nato. A fit-for-purpose military is as important to a healthy nation as good healthcare and housing, especially a nation which claims to be neutral. – Is mise,
REBECCA CROWLEY,
Cork.
Sir, – Since 2016, citizens’ assemblies have been an effective mechanism for considering serious political and social issues.
Neutrality, and the specific question of whether Ireland should consider joining Nato, is a serious political question both for Ireland’s citizens and for its role in the world. Why then is the Government insisting on a Consultative Forum on International Security Policy with, it appears, no members except for the chairperson. According to Micheál Martin, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Department of Defence will work alongside the chairperson, Dame Louise Richardson, on planning and delivering the consultative forum and associated events.
A forum of one, planned in this way, is a travesty; it is the opposite to an exercise in democracy. It should be abandoned and a citizens’ assembly should be held to consider the serious issue of neutrality and allied questions, expanding to look at how Ireland can play a progressive role in the world in terms of peace. – Yours, etc,
HELEN MAHONY,
Dublin 13.
Sir, – Like so many other national vital public services that are in effect privatised, it now emerges that successive Irish governments have abdicated their responsibility for our national defence and farmed out the control of Irish airspace and territorial waters to the UK military.
In effect our skies and territorial waters are and have been secretly under the control of a nuclear-armed Nato member without the knowledge of the Irish people.
Are we a Republic in name only? – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN BUTLER,
Dublin 9.