Northern Ireland 2125?

Connolly reminds me of a granny next door: after saying we do not need an army

she does a u turn and says they need extra pay. note extra pay, not better equipment. Laughable. Zelensky got away with his life this time he visited Ireland. No wonder the body language between him and Connolly was not the best when they met.

Is it, or is it not, a fact that Connolly said in the Dail, "Ireland will never be able to have an army. We do not need an army"

Seems as she is very confused.

Good job there are records kept in the Dail, because speaking during a Dáil debate on the Defence Act in May 2024, Ms Connolly said: ‘We do not need an army. We are an independent, neutral, sovereign country. Our strength lies in our independent voice.’

So Connolly did say "Ireland will never be able to have an army. We do not need an army."

No excuse for that. Of course we need an army. And yes, she has also insulted our EU partners and Von der Leyen, the European Commission's president.

If we do not need an army, who do you think should defend Ireland? The lads "who have not gone away, y'know"?

An "army" is part of a countries defence forces.

The Israeli army are part of the IDF : the Israeli Defence Forces, Nothing to do with Nato.

Connolly said we do not need an army. She also said "We are an independent, neutral, sovereign country. Our strength lies in our independent voice."

She forgets other neutral, relatively small countries like Switzerland have an army - and their army is an awful lot more capable than ours.

An independent voice is not much use if you have someone like Russia prowling around. As other countries have found out. Would an independent voice have prevented those drones from hitting Zelensky's plane if it had not arrived early?

Did Connolly talking out of both sides of her mouth, like a mug, prevent those 4 dromes from being in the air?

So far since NATO was established, the NATO counties have wone the Cold war and prevented any of the NATO countries being invaded by Russia. We have taken advantage of the defence of the west that NATO produced and paid for.

You have not answered the question. Could Connolly's voice have prevented those drones from hitting Zelensky's plane if it had not arrived early? Seems as that is the only thing we had to defend ourselves and Zelensky with, as the lads in the navy looked up with open mouths?

Would'nt be surprised to see a couple of head shots of Corks finest lads with their mouths open, (maybe one with a fag hanging out!) looking up at the drone, on the front page of Krasnaia zvezda,  (Красная звезда, Red Star), the official paper of the Soviet and now Russian Ministry of Defense.

Could see it now: According to a spokesperson on the front of Красная звезда, Red Star, the chippers in Ireland seem to know more about drones than the navy? Not surprising when the President thinks there should be no army, therefore no navy.

Our neighbouringing island has protected our skies from Russian fighters (with their transponders turned off) for decades now, and protected us during the cold war and ww2, and long before that. However, we have been attacked before by enemy forces. Think of the German bombs that fell on the island. Think of the Sack of Baltimore. Over 100 people kidnapped to a life of slavery. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sack_of_Baltimore

Think of why the Martello towers were built.

Connolly did not want extra technology for the armed forces, or for them to be competant at their job: she herself said she wanted extra pay for them (from the fairy godmother of course).

Not much use against drones.

The UK are quite capable of defending their own airspace without having to defend ours as well.

Could have been quite embarassing for this country if Zelensky's flight had not been early and drones had hit his aircraft as it approached Dublin.

Maybe Ukraine could buy us a radar, in exchange for all the help we gave their refugees?

During the cold war did West Germany overfly East Germany because if the Russians approached from the east, there simply would'nt have been enough time to react?

Do not be silly. This is kindergarden stuff really. You are nearly as bad as Connolly saying we do not need an Army.

Ah, the auld 800 years thing. The bitterness is never far from the surface with you. You might as well say what Connolly said, we do not need an army at all.

Sure those military drones seen 500 mtrs from our navy ship and which arrived slightly too late for Zelensky's plane as it approached Dublin airport were no harm at all, at all.

However, if (A) they were Russian -as some other drones around Europe this year were - and (B) if they arrived on time and could have brought down Zelenskys plane, do you think the Russians would have done that?

In other news, our own Health Service Executive (HSE) - even though nobody has attacked us for 800 years - is facing 473 data-protection lawsuits as a result of the 2021 cyberattack.

Schhh.

She just said "an army". She said we do not need an army. No mention of Nato levels.

Do you think Switzerland has an army? If so, how good is it do you think?

Anyway, you did not answer the question.

However, if (A) they were Russian -as some other drones around Europe this year were - and (B) if they arrived on time and could have brought down Zelenskys plane, do you think the Russians would have done that?

Do you think the HSE would agree with you the Russians have not attacked this country?

Do you think the Russians have snooped around our underwater cables?

Do you think Russia has been behind other drone activity in Europe?

You have a lot to learn, do your research, come back tomorrow.

Russia is at war with the West. Beyond Ukraine, that takes a multitude of forms from hacking and misinformation campaigns right up to sabotage and assassination. Putin does not wish us well. We haven’t been affected much so far at all but only a very naive or willfully blind person would imagine our neutrality insulates us from aggression of this type in the future.

They are in no way equivalent.