"The programme for government in June 2020 made it clear that any commission would not critically examine Ireland’s ambiguous policy of non-membership of military alliances or neutrality so that is firmly off the table for discussion by the group." #CoDF rte.ie/brainstorm/202…
"By international standards, the levels of equipment and modernisation of the Irish Defence Forces are below international norms. The Irish air corps have no radar system to monitor Irish airspace and no fast aircraft to police it (for example, both Finland and Uruguay do).."
"The Irish navy have no guided missiles, torpedoes or ... sophisticated ship protection systems, but instead are austerely equipped as a coastguard. The Irish army have no tanks, a small number of lightly armed and protected vehicles, and an ageing collection of artillery pieces"
"It will be fascinating to see what observations the very senior foreign military experts on the Commission will make ... they may be in for a shock at how limited the basic Irish Defence Force is compared with their own home countries."
"Ireland is at least as well off as Finland, New Zealand or Austria and yet Ireland’s military balance sheet appears much more limited than those countries. Plainly speaking, Ireland’s Defence Forces have been allowed decline when compared with improvements in other small states"
"Yet the core limitation of any commission remains that it is only as good as its recommendations are acted upon. ... While the Commission will report within 12 months, real change may be longer in coming, especially if legislative change of the Defence Acts is required.."
"It is just possible that a window of opportunity exists to reboot Ireland defence forces or at the very least, to redress some of the problems arising from years of neglect."
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