What would happen if Russians landed at Shannon and took over the airport?
We need to stand up to a vocal lobby who claim to be protecting Irish neutrality but will leave the country defenceless
Ireland is finally waking up to the need to take the country’s defence seriously. Vladimir Putin’s threat to attack the EU and the mysterious arrival of drones off the Dublin coast during Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s visit has made it clear that our threadbare neutrality provides no immunity from aggression.
The question now is obvious: what is to be done? The easy answer is that we need to focus on cyber security and invest in drone technology. While that is necessary, it will merely scratch the surface. The harsh reality is that we have to prepare for every contingency, no matter how far-fetched it might seem.
For instance, what would happen if a planeload or two of Russian paratroopers landed at Shannon and took over the airport? At our current level of preparedness, there is little or nothing we could do to defend ourselves. We would have to ask for help from our fellow EU member states, or, more likely, Britain.
If Russia attacks the EU in the coming years, Ireland’s wide-open back door on the west of the continent could prove tempting. For centuries, the British rationale for holding Ireland was to prevent enemies from using it as an invasion route. Russian naval activity off our coast in recent years indicates that they are assessing how to exploit our weaknesses.
Last week’s episode in the Irish Sea involving drones and a “dark vessel” shows just how exposed we are to hostile players. Reports from the business group Ibec and the Institute of European and International Affairs this week highlight the level of threat that already exists and advocate for more far more robust defence in the future.
The Commission on the Defence Forces, which reported to the Government in 2022, identified three levels of ambition. The first, to leave things as they were, was rejected on the basis the country would be left “without a credible military capability to protect Ireland, its people and its resources for any sustained period”.
The second level of ambition was to address some of the current deficiencies through a significant strengthening of cyber defence and military intelligence, as well as revitalising the Army Reserve. The Government committed itself to meeting these goals by 2028, but they now seem far too modest given the escalating threat.
The third level of ambition put forward by the Commission included the development of a substantial mechanised component of the army. It also called for a balanced fleet of at least 12 naval ships, supported by appropriate technology, the acquisition of a squadron of combat aircraft, a joint cyber-defence command and an expansion of the Army Ranger wing to include dedicated combat helicopter assets.
The emphasis on turning the army into an effective fighting force is key. At present, the Army Rangers are the only component of the Defence Forces fully trained for combat, but they are just about 150 strong and need to be expanded as a first step.
Ibec, in its report, rightly argued that the Government should move immediately to these level-three ambitions. The problem is that the Department of Public Expenditure is standing in the way. Simon Harris made a determined effort earlier this year to get a significant increase in defence spending, but the original target of €3 billion was cut in half by the department.
Two weeks ago, former Green Party leader Eamon Ryan outlined in The Irish Times how the Department of Public Expenditure had blocked much-needed critical infrastructure during his time as a minister. The department simply cannot be allowed to get in the way of long-overdue improvements in national security. While strict supervision of public spending is necessary, our current Exchequer surpluses mean there is no excuse for not giving defence the priority it deserves.
The EU and most of its member states are now engaged in a dramatic escalation of defence spending. As net contributors to the EU budget, we are funding the expansion of the Union’s defence capability. But because of our inadequacies, we are not able to benefit either in intelligence sharing or getting a slice of the huge investment now going into the defence industry.
Ibec CEO Danny McCoy has pointed out that in future, business will require a country to prove that it can defend and secure its assets. “So, this is of paramount national importance, not just in protecting ourselves but also ensuring future prosperity.”
Debate on defence has been stifled for far too long by the unwillingness of the mainstream parties to confront a vocal and aggressive lobby. This lobby claims to be protecting Irish neutrality but its impact, whether intentional or not, is to leave the country defenceless.
Defence will probably be the biggest item on the EU agenda during the Irish presidency in the second half of 2026. Unless we start to look serious about our own defence and abolish the ludicrous triple lock without delay, we will lack any authority to steer the EU debate. The fact that we will not even be able to provide adequate security for visiting delegations during the presidency is a shameful sign of our inadequacy.
We need to stand up to a vocal lobby who claim to be protecting Irish neutrality but will leave the country defenceless
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you posted up about the one likely to be bottom of the list 
