Interesting articles

i see in that picture the new 30mm is on the Mowag. They were due to go on the Kiwi boats. If they are in trouble as have been suggested will they still get a primary system?

She doesn't need approval from DPER to express an aspiration.

In any case, if the cabinet does ultimately decide to apply for SAFE, its outside of the voted budget and it becomes a treasury matter to maximise the value of the borrowing.

Or just more empty talk just to look busy while doing nothing?

Well, it would be very on brand to buy the 346 and declare LoA3 completed, nothing more to do…

But lets be honest, they aren't likely to even bother with that level of half arseness.

Then the two finance departments should have adequately funded the capital program instead of the utterly ineffective amount that we have over the next few years. I mean if it makes you feel better, the chances are that it will never go beyond random comments thrown out before and during the Presidency but again on brand for how the Government is doing everything it can to ignore the uncomfortable recommendations of the Commission.

In other news, an article on what we will have for the Presidency, stopgap efforts and the bare minimum to pretend that we actually have any intentions on defence and security. Wonder whose going to actually be doing the defence work?

https://www.irishtimes.com/crime-law/2026/05/26/shotguns-helicopters-and-airburst-ammunition-to-guard-against-rogue-drones-during-eu-presidency/
https://archive.ph/ObhGK

Quick look and there’s only a few of the “fighter” variant actually in service, so who knows. Again a perfect non solution cause it has a jet engine and that makes all the difference (as seen by all the wrong suggestions that the Fougras could actually do interceptions), so yeah I could see an order…

Austria plans too

The new austrian m346 deal signed last December is coming in at 80 million a plane , ( including a full sustainment package )! So not cheap, ive no idea what is included in that package, so that could still be great value - and the Austrians aren't exactly known for just chucking cash around for the sake of it ..

Austria's needs and Ireland's needs are very different.

The M346 wouldn't add anything significant to Ireland's capability, unless we intend to add ground attack options to augment the land component.

But as fighter-interceptors, forget it.

So it appears we have arrested someone working for a "foreign intelligence service", whose been working in a Government Department. The accused has been charged under the Official Secrets Act and the Fraud Offences Act. The Court has placed restrictions on reporting which nation is involved, but he's a Ukrainian that moved to Ireland in the 00's, and was flying home to the Donbas through Turkey…

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/courtandcrime/arid-41854197.html

https://www.rte.ie/news/courts/2026/0530/1576047-yevgen-mckeeffe-court/

https://archive.ph/UTTjQ

Possible tip of the iceberg. In another headline I saw somewhere over the weekend, Garda Security & Intelligence Service are expressing concern over some 14,000 'right to remain' granted to certain Russian citizens in the past few years.

Without running the risk of turning the direction of this thread, I would wager that the general public should be far more concerned with the uncontrolled immigration of individuals from certain countries who's social, cultural and religious beliefs are at complete odds with a Western liberal nation such as Ireland.

Easier to sell white Russians as bogeymen though in today's world.

The Chief Super below seems to think that there is no unvetted migrants so previously anyone granted a right to remain is subject to the same scrutiny.

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/1230/1488432-migrant-gnib/