If being an unaligned country with a large army is no deterrent to Putin's ambitions is it time for ROI to join Nato?
Are you happy for any government here to administer this scheme mark?
Yes, I am. Whatever you think of me, I am a democrat. I have more faith in our system them you, as you want to have the Brits veto us.
Say there is another build up of tension in the north? Would you be for us sending in an aid/peacekeeping mission?
Lots of what if's there but no, we would be or should be invading the North even if tensions rise. We didn't do it back at the start of the troubles, thank God, and it won't be happening anytime soon I think.
It seems you struggle with keeping two separate issues in your thoughts at the same time. Ever hear of the phrase 'Chew gum and walk at the same time'
We can get rid of the triplelock and NOT invade the North Francie. You make it sound like a certainty that we would.
But we could decide to do it under your scheme. That is peak 'stick it in reverse' because there is a point to be scored, from you. 😁
And now apparently, rising tensions in the north are more unlikely than a Russian invasion. All over the shop logic.
Your argument reminds me of this.
Is there a chance that if Ireland removes the triple lock and then proceeds to invade a NATO country? Yes, I guess there is that chance. Bloody unlikely though.
However, that 'chance' is not reason enough not remove the triple lock. Ironic you want the Brits to veto our foreign policy. Not much of an Irish Republican tbh.
How are they or have they. controlled our 'foreign policy'?
Seems to me our foreign policy is to go on peacekeeping missions under the umbrella of the UN. Correct me if I am wrong?
The sooner you apply some logic to your argument the better or I'll be getting suspicious of your motives/agenda in this debate, which seems more to do with taunting than has to do with any facts.
The fact is that the permanent members of the UN security council have a veto on us, in regards to UN Peacekeeping missions. Russians and Brits vetoing aspects of Irish foreign policy.
That's the fact here, and its a fact you support maintaining.
And the fact is, our foreign policy is to go on peacekeeping missions under the umbrella of the UN, knowing full well that any of the 5 top members have a veto.
So why the taunt about the British mark?
I have repeatedly said I accept our foreign policy and that to achieve it under the widest umbrella possible is the only way to do it.
Thanks to the success of FDI, how much critical EU IT infrastructure is currently hosted in Ireland? Quite a lot I would imagine. So rather being last in line if conflict broke out, I actually think Ireland would be attacked first, not as an invasion merely to cause chaos throughout the rest of the EU.
I wouldn't be surprised if both the EU and US. are telling the government to sort it's s**t out.
Why would somebody have to invade is for that. Just drop a big bomb on the docklands on a Monday afternoon and that goal is achieved.
Even the Romans had no interest in us.
I think neutrality has served us very very well, though I've no doubt our political class have been selling it out the last few years, Leo said the other day there would be a "thorough debate" on it...I think there needs to be a referendum on it as not being neutral opens us up to all kinds of problems, terrorism, increased spending etc
If it was anything more than trying to get an uplift on the back of a tragic war they'd have the courage to call a referendum, which is required if it is to change.
They know damn well it would be rejected in a referendum, they've been treating Ireland as if its their's to do what they want with the last few years or for a pat on the head from Brussels..
Increased spending is needed either way several billion per year ,
No idea where terrorism comes into it
Considering the role Shannon has Played in conflicts since before the first gulf war
Why is it needed though? Several billion a year could be spent on far better things.
For me, yes, the world has changed in the last week - a Russian invasion of Ireland can no longer be laughed off. The warship a few months ago starts to look a bit more sinister. I totally get the continued neutrality comments but I'm not sure Putin gives one about that tbh.
We waste Billions and send more money over seas than we spend on the military , there not actually asking for much and yes it would be something that could make a difference
I have been generally Anti-NATO, but having understood its rationale, I’m somewhat more open to Ireland being part of it.
It's not the people who cut the defence budget to ribbons.
But now it's more than likely going to be heavily invested in ,and there will be no referendum about it ,if we don't join nato it will likely be a European army when this is all said and done and we are already part of the Eu battlegroups ,
Nobody is calling for battleships and stealth aircraft ,but we need to massively increase our airforce , naval and other assets such as radar and intelligence gathering, won't cost us hundreds of billions but we will have to spend several billion a year for the foreseeable future,we already heavily invest in healthcare , housing , tourism, welfare ,and yet things are not improving ,can't keep saying lets spend the money elsewhere ,it's needed in defense
Looks like Ireland will be put on Putin's naughty List.
If he does decide to go nuclear then you can be sure that he won't care one iota about Ireland 'being militarily neutral'
The NATO guideline for defence spending is 2% of GDP. The median spend in NATO is 1.6% of GDP.
The lowest spender in NATO is Luxembourg with 0.6% GDP.
If Ireland joined NATO, if it spent 2%, it would be 7bn euro spend annually.
If it spent 1.6% it would be roughly 5bn euro spend annually.
If it spent 0.6% it would be around 2bn euro annually.
Someone needs to tell me where this 2bn euro, at least, comes from.
Anyways, it's all a pointless discussion, we won't be joining NATO and all this defence talk will be forgotten about in a few months when the next trendy topic hits the headlines, unless the EU demands a minimum defence spend per country.
Russia invading Ireland? You're having a laugh.
They didn't invade Ukraine for the craic, they invaded Ukraine because they believe it's part of Russia.
No argument that money needs to be spent.
And for those advocating spending without joining NATO....we're a small country. You could spend as much money as you'd like, the reality is our army is a few thousand people with 0 combat experience. A large country like Russia, UK, whoever would swat us away like flies.
Wouldn't need to spend more than 3 Billion ,the defense forces are not looking for hundreds of billions or tens of billions , they are seeking 2-3 at most
But you will claim otherwise as seen elsewhere.
But remember it's only a guide line we currently spend less than some carribian islands
We currently spend about 0.3 of GDP on defense it's embarrassing
Do we not already spend well over that already? I thought I read we spend approx 2.7%?
No we don't spend anywhere near that our current spend is about 0.3 %
There is no strategic reason to invade Ireland whatsoever. If you wanted to attack the UK, you would not give the game away by invading Ireland first. The RAF and Royal Navy would be over quick enough to de-risk.
The only strategic objective may be to knock out the data centres.
We are an irrelevance.
3bn is an outrageous sum for defence. We already piss away billions and our corp tax bonanza will be coming to an end.
How will CT be coming to an end?
People have been saying that for the last 20 years and it still hasn’t happened.
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