If being an unaligned country with a large army is no deterrent to Putin's ambitions is it time for ROI to join Nato?
Ah, the old Putin-Bot talking points come out again.
"I didn't see the docs myself, so I'm not going to believe anything the Brits/Americans have to say about my beloved Russian friends in the Kremlin"
You DO KNOW that there were intelligence reports from many European states that corroborated the story about the Salisbury attack?
Or have you forgotten about them in the midst of your little rant?
Here you are again, defending the Russian state by proxy, all with the veneer of trying to get to the truth, when you have absolutely no interest in the truth, but want to play silly little word games with 'whataboutism'
I just posted an example of you poo-pooing the idea of Russian aggression to European countries as sure the only reason they were doing it to Britain was because of their own imperialist past.
Here are other examples..
I see NO need to protect against something that is no threat.
Then why want MORE investment in our military all of a sudden?
I just don't see the point. I understand there are those who like all the boys toys aspect, but we have other priorities.
Dont see the point then.... yet here you are blaming the government on our defence capability.
...and of course your real motivation.
Self righteousness? Isn't that the very thing in that allows the British to 'police' the immoral world.
The very thing that has the Russians trolling them?
Im sure the Russian are just 'Trolling' the Ukrainians, and all the dead civilians that they are laying waste to. Once the Birts get a bloody nose, you are happy, regardless of what evils the perpetrator does.
What?
Who is threatening our airspace? Nobody.
And where did I say I didn't want any capacity?
You guys need to lie and misrepresent all the time here.
Repeated what?
That it is 'always wrong to rely on intelligence you have not seen'?
That is not supporting Russia blanch, no matter what way you cut it or spin it. It is a simple fact that there are very good reasons not to trust British or American intelligence.
Which is all that happened, nobody condoned or supported what happened at Salisbury.
You want Ireland to invest so we have a capable military yet your previous comments stated that you didn't want us to have any capacity whatsoever to defend our own airspace as its a 'waste of money'.
Egg.on.face
You just repeated it here.
Back this up.
What posts on Salisbury and Russia are you talking about?
You can't even admit that you were wrong about Salisbury, your posts on Russia over the last few years, as demonstrated above, have been shameful.
It is always wrong to rely on intelligence you have not seen.
Do you believe that the UK and US have not carried out spook missions in their own interest here and abroad themselves by the way?
As for 'cosying up', if traipsing over to Russia begging for a vote at the UN is not 'cosying up', what is?
Your problem here blanch is as usual, you want it each and every way. And your prime reason for wanting us in NATO is because the Shinners are against it. No credibility left.
Foreign policy is one big problem for Sinn Fein. Cosying up to Columbia, Castro and Russia, opposing every single EU referendum, belligerent attitude to the UK, etc.
There will be problems for them in any government if they continue on that ridiculous path.
As for posters' history, those that have a history of blindly following Sinn Fein down every path will be exposed again by these u-turns. For example, does @FrancieBrady and others still believe it was wrong to rely on UK and EU intelligence over Salisbury?
Although they had a large border i am not sure how much of a cultural link they have. possibly they do. But the question was what democratic country like Ireland has ever been invaded by a country it has no cultural link to since ww2. Afghanistan was not democratic in 1982.
not at all, just people trying to make irrelevant nonsense into a big issue that it will never be.
SF had 1 view and then that view changed, nothing wrong with that and shows they are right for government, and more and more people are agreeing dispite the smeer campaign attempt.
Such as?
I have never supported Russian aggression or Russia itself. I wouldn't look for Russian support for anything on the basis of how they treat their people and minorities much less other sovereign territories, unlike our government for instance, who can turn the blind eye when it suits.
Where is the 'change'?
I am happy to allow the British to protect themselves. No 'change' there.
There is no pile, just people calling out blatant hypocrisy.
Who precisely is saying Russia invading Ireland is a high probability event? Nobody. You're pumping words into people's mouths here and you should cease.
Are Russia a live risk to the security of the state across other threat domains? Blatantly and blindingly obviously.
Speaking of tunes, you certainly changed yours recently.
Because not long ago you stated that any upgrade to defend ourselves in the air was a waste of money because you were happy the Brits were doing it for us for free.
Which, as there is an agreement to do it (hence you have to assume it is mutually beneficial) means there is absolutely no need to waste money on this. We buy in services all the time.
Another about change from Francie.
What 'history'?
The lies here are getting out of control and the usual pile on.
McManus' "explaination" is limp as f*ck and won't wash with people.
SF could well do with putting their hands up and swallowing that they provided comfort to Putin.
This is not something SF will be able to worm out of.
You know my record Francie, I've stuck up for SF when some of the criticism got ridiculous, but they deserve a hammering on this front, and deep down you know it.
They could go a long way to earning some respect back if they admitted they f*cekd up.
How did what help Ukraine?
Look, put your cards on the table here and stop playing games. Is Russia invading Ireland a credible threat or not?
Ukraine was invaded for a specific set of reasons. Saying we share those specifics is loony tune nonsense.
Find myself wondering if Francie will be doing a Mary lou and purging his posting history when it comes to Russia. 😂
If we were a belligerent threat to others around the world then I would want an air force.
How did that help Ukraine and do you know think Ireland should have its own Air Force?
To paraphrase Ali, I ain't got no beef with the Rooskies.
Britain feels threatened because it is a belligerent imperialist. If they have to waste money up there its not my problem.
Ouch! Ignorant bliss is right. :)
'Look how that turned out'?
It escalated to a full on invasion? Yep.
Quite clear from that article that Mary-Lou McDonald was effectively claiming that Putin was more to be trusted than the European Union. We have a number of posters on here who would be quite embarrassed were we to be bothered to dig out the previous posts on the Salisbury issue.
At least Ming Flanagan said on the day of the Ukraine Invasion that he was 100% wrong in his beliefs about Putin and Russia. At least he owned his mistake and was honest about it.
The likes of SF, Clare Daly and Mick Wallace... still trying to fool the people.
SF have explained their voting record clearly to the public.
Sinn Féin’s Chris MacManus also said he had feared the vote could escalate tensions.
“In situations where the real possibility of the outbreak of an armed conflict exists, Sinn Féin believes extreme care must be taken to de-escalate and promote dialogue. Being measured can sometimes save lives. In December, world leaders were very much in the process of trying to negotiate with Russia a de-escalation,” he said.
Wide-ranging sanctions
“It is in this context Sinn Féin voted against an effective upping of the ante, with regard to wide-ranging sanctions and military support, which could have collapsed the talks overnight.”
Now, the party supports sanctions, he added.
“Almost three months later, it is clear this process failed and Russia has chosen the path of aggression. Sinn Féin therefore now believes the last option available, of wide ranging sanctions, is appropriate.”
Were we so digusted by Russia's action in 2014 that we stopped the flow of money? Refused to go begging for their support at the UN? Nope, ostensibly, it was business as usual. Have they 'Limp dick's too?
Appeasement if you will?
Look how that turned out Francie.
There is a reason why Neville Chamberlain is yesterday's man in history and it will also be true that those who appeased Russia and Putin will also be yesterday's people in due course.
extremely limited intelligence generating
We don't even have the basics. There is a reason why the Russian embassy is a base for hitmen who can travel across all of Europe.
Those who poo-poo the threat are living in glorious ignorance and there is a long history on this island who wants to live in that world, spearheaded by the likes of Clare Daly and SF.
Remember the time when SF's Louise O'Reilly went on national radio and tried to defend her party's stance in relation to the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and her daughter in Salsbury?
They objected to the explosion of Russian Diplolants then, but would rather the whole thing be forgotten today
Alas, the internet doesn't forget.
The reason was given some months back when questioned on it on National Radio, after Ukraine felt the entire wrath of the Russian Army?
They were waiting for the Irish intelligence service to corroborate independently the facts of the case.... only for two journalists from the Times and Politico to accurately say, we don't have an Intelligence service and its an utterly stupid and idiotic response from the SF would be minister. She promptly shut up in the hope that people would forget her party's history in cosying up with tyrants.
This also extends to defence spending, because you can be 100% sure that if the government choose option 2 or 3 before the Ukraine invasion, the people would be giving out about our defence spending being a waste of money.
...or, once again you lied about me and cannot back it up.
Again, backup where I have ever said this - while simultaneously claiming that the British represent an external threat to us - in the context of needing to beef up our defence forces or join a military alliance?
