Sir, – Col Dorcha Lee’s article (“Steady Decline of Defence Forces must be halted”, March 24th) is timely, coming as it does between Green and White Papers on defence.
The Irish Maritime Forum (TIMF) shares Col Lee’s concern at the low percentage of GDP allocated to defence. In the context of the vastly increased sea area claimed by Ireland, the forum advocates an increase in the allocation to maritime security.
The area of operations to be covered by the Navy has more than doubled since the publication of the last defence White Paper. To patrol the area encompassed by the 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (410,000 sq km), the White Paper on defence 2000 recommended eight ships and 1,144 personnel. The defence and security of our hugely expanded maritime domain (now 1,000,000 sq km) is surely worthy of an increase to a more realistic number of ships and personnel.
We are an island nation and we now claim the largest maritime domain to landmass of any northwestern European state. In fact 92 per cent of Ireland is under water. This domain contains natural resources with a potential value of several trillion euro, including mineral deposits, fossil fuels, marine life, fisheries and wind and wave energy. Effective policing of our maritime domain is an important indicator of our determination to exploit our marine resources effectively and sustainably. Yours, etc,
CAPT JAMES ROBINSON,
On behalf of the IMF
Boulaling,
Riverstick,
Co Cork.