We are totally defenceless
Two former Army officers warn State has ‘no ability to protect ourselves’
IRELAND’S defence is in its worst state since before the Troubles, two former Army officers have warned.
With calls for a debate on Irish neutrality, political concern is growing over the State’s military and naval status as the ‘soft underbelly’ of Europe.
The former Army officers told the Dáil and Seanad the Defence Forces are less capable of protecting the State than they were at the start of the Troubles.
In 1971, a stark analysis of the Army’s ability to protect nationalist communities meant the armed forces stayed out during a series of loyalist massacres in nationalist areas.
Former Army officer Gerard Craughwell said the Army is even less capable of defending the State now.
He said: ‘If there was a determined incursion, the best they could do is to organise an orderly surrender.’
Mr Craughwell, who recently visited the Ukrainian front, said this was the case in air, land and sea warfare, warning that on all fronts ‘our numbers are hopelessly depleted’.
He added: ‘Our troop numbers are down 20% from 1971, half of our ships are tied up and our barracks closed.’
Former Army Ranger Cathal Berry said the Navy ‘doesn’t have a single missile’.
He said: ‘We have patrol boats that are seriously under-crewed while our planes are propellerdriven. They are scarcely more technologically advanced than the Spitfires of the 1940s.’
Mr Berry also warned ongoing cuts in the forces meant that, ‘in terms of helping Ukraine, we would struggle to put together a credible force. Currently the most effective item we have is a thousand AT4 disposable anti-tank bazookas. This would especially be the case if Ukraine became engaged in urban warfare’.
A recent Commission on the Defence Forces report found: ‘Ireland is not equipped, postured or realistically prepared to conduct a meaningful defence of
the State against a full-spectrum force for any sustained period’.
Recent Russian naval activities off the Irish coast were highlighted by defence analysts as evidence of Ireland’s embarrassing status as the soft underbelly of Europe.
Mr Berry added: ‘We are actually a demilitarised State. We’re not neutral, we’re neutered. We have no ability to protect ourselves.’
Mr Craughwell said: ‘Chickens are coming home to roost. We are badly exposed in an age of aggressive new world clashes.
‘We are reaping the whirlwind of ten years of indecision and dithering. Morale is shattered by scandals such as Women of Honour and the ongoing failure to resolve these issues.’
Concern is also high in Government over our capacity to survive a cyber-attack, with one senior minister warning: ‘We are utterly dependent on the mercy of others. Our cyber defences are in a similar position to our Army. We are part of the soft underbelly of Europe on the cyber front too.’