Looks like once again Ireland's lack of any defensive or reconnaissance capability is being exposed and will be alarming to European neighbors which, after this, may surely reach the point of demands to get our house in order.
It's not about being able to defeat anyone - it's about making aggressive moves as difficult as possible.
We occupy a very important geographical area in a European context, particularly our seas, and we are consistently failing to provide a basic sufficient defensive capability to assure our neighbors.
This is the Swiss approach. They know full well they can be invaded but the point is to make an aggressor think twice before doing it, that it will cost them in the process.
I can not understand how some Irish people can go on about "neutrality" when we can't even do the basics in terms of defence of that so-called neutrality. We don't have sonar, we don't have proper military radar, we don't have so much as one aircraft capable of pursuit within our own airspace.
It's all a spoof and it's frankly embarrassing some of the stories in the papers today on this test.
And it's selfish too.
What we are basically saying to our neighbors is we want to run down our defence forces, not take our responsibilities to our own country seriously, that puts you at risk, spend nothing because we'd rather pay inflated salaries to our public servants....AND now Simon Coveney wants to raise this with foreign ministers in Brussels. i.e "we want your help"!?
Don't be surprised if the reaction is both perplexed and frosty.
We need a serious conversation about defence policy in this country.
No one is looking for some bloated military, just the basics which we don't have.
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