What if Ireland leased out Military Bases?

Augmerson

Surely the island is in a strategic position in the Atlantic, halfway between Europe and the US. If the government considered it, do you think we could make billions in leases to foreign powers to use our territory as a station for their military forces?

Imagine Argentine special forces based in Donegal.

Chinese subs in Cork.

Russian reconnaissance flights from Casement Aerodrome.

If we are serious about getting out of this ****ing eternal recession, surely we should consider every option? Let's get inventive. I guess the real question is, how far would you go to get us out of the current mess we are in, and it is a bit of a mess alright.

Zebra3

Propose to sell off a small island to Iran or China.

We'll see then how determined the ECB and IMF are for us to pay off private banking debts. :cool:

kirving

Fantastic way to make ourselves a target for every idiot with a grudge against the US or China or the UK. No.

kyle123

would u really want all them here? just them countries talking about it would have America starting cold war 2

twistyj

And lose our neutral status? ehhh.. no thanks but i dont want a North Korean target on me!

FoxT

We used to, but quit back around 1937 or so.

Imagine Bull Island = Guantanamo bay
Imagine Ireland becoming a desirable target for international terrorists.
Imagine Ireland having a Dept of Homeland security.

I'd rather be broke, TBH.

Phill Ewinn

They can have Offaly for free. Once they agree to use that fat cnut for target practice.

Captain Chaos

twistyj wrote: »

And lose our neutral status?

What neutral status, we are not neutral. A neutral country has to have a capability to fully defend itself from the land, sea and air. We can't do any of the above.

Switzerland is neutral. We are as neutral as Sweden but without the military hardware.

FoxT

Captain Chaos wrote: »

What neutral status, we are not neutral. A neutral country has to have a capability to fully defend itself from the land, sea and air. We can't do any of the above.

Switzerland is neutral. We are as neutral as Sweden but without the military hardware.

True. But I think it can at least be said we have a 'somewhat-non-aggressor' status...which maybe isnt as good a neutral, but is a whole lot better than it would be if we started leasing out military bases.

Pushtrak

[Obligatory AH post]What if we leased out yore* ma?[/obligatory AH post[/AH]













* No one specifically.

twistyj

Captain Chaos wrote: »

defend itself

The Defense Forces??

Also I somewhat agree with you on neutrality with the refuelling at shannon for the yanks

golden lane

Captain Chaos wrote: »

What neutral status, we are not neutral. A neutral country has to have a capability to fully defend itself from the land, sea and air. We can't do any of the above.

Switzerland is neutral. We are as neutral as Sweden but without the military hardware.

the european mainland has enough...and the uk has quite a few..but could do with more........locals have lost a lot recently........

loads a money days are nearly gone.....

Simi

Bad at balancing your cities budget in Sim City perchance OP?

Augmerson

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tb-gI_pFog0

Zebra3

Kevin Irving wrote: »

Fantastic way to make ourselves a target for every idiot with a grudge against the US or China or the UK. No.

The US already uses Shannon as a miltary base.

bwatson

What is the strategic purpose of Argentine Special Forces in Donegal OP? :eek:

Chuck Stone

Don't call me Shirley.

joshrogan

What makes a man turn neutral?
Lust for gold?
Power?
Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?

ejmaztec

twistyj wrote: »

And lose our neutral status? ehhh.. no thanks but i dont want a North Korean target on me!

We'll let the North Koreans have Knock just to be on the safe side.

Killer Wench

Well, for all of you wanting to gain American citizenship, it would be a good thing if there was an American base on Ireland. You could snag American personnel as they tend to marry them foreigners.

charlemont

Augmerson wrote: »

Surely the island is in a strategic position in the Atlantic, halfway between Europe and the US. If the government considered it, do you think we could make billions in leases to foreign powers to use our territory as a station for their military forces?

Imagine Argentine special forces based in Donegal.

Chinese subs in Cork.

Russian reconnaissance flights from Casement Aerodrome.

If we are serious about getting out of this ****ing eternal recession, surely we should consider every option? Let's get inventive. I guess the real question is, how far would you go to get us out of the current mess we are in, and it is a bit of a mess alright.

Whatever you've been taking, It must be strong stuff..

IrishAm

Augmerson wrote: »

I guess the real question is, how far would you go to get us out of the current mess we are in, and it is a bit of a mess alright.

Well, we shouldn't be willing to prostitute ourselves out to the highest bidder.

Emphasise the word shouldn't.

The government would, if the price was right.

"We are happy to announce that we shall be working with our new Israeli/Iranian/Chinese partners, going forward. We Irish have an extraordinarily deep relationship with the people of Israel/Iran/China. It embraces many stories of heartache and courage, of heroism and achievement. This agreement strengthens that bond, different peoples, but really, we are one."

TehDagsBass

No, I want no form of allegiance with war hungry countries if possible. It's abhorrent that as a neutral country, we're letting the US use Shannon as a stop-over on their way to commit their atrocities in other countries.

Sindri

Yep, then let them occupy us at the first outbreak of war. Which is what would happen as we're are, as you said OP, in an advantageous tactical location.

ewj1978

First sign of war and someone would drop a nuke or two on us, that'd be it for us.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Do we have military bases of warfare standard to lease?

Capt'n Midnight

Augmerson wrote: »

Russian reconnaissance flights from Casement Aerodrome.

Shannon used to be a regular stop-over for them, half way to Cuba and South America.

Reality is that the US already has enough bases in the UK and no one else has a lot of money to spare.

forfuxsake

bwatson wrote: »

What is the strategic purpose of Argentine Special Forces in Donegal OP? :eek:

To protect Malvinasessi.

deise go deo

twistyj wrote: »

And lose our neutral status? ehhh.. no thanks but i dont want a North Korean target on me!

Wana know a dark little secret, Ireland is not neutral:eek:

Nothingbetter2d

we are holding out our bases for our new alien overlords when they eventually get

LK_Dave

Why does it have to be military? Why not lease out a port to foreign fishing fleets so they can fish the international waters of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans? Or a cargo port to one of the BRIC countries as a transit hub for their exports to EU and Eastern markets?

Wasn't only this week we sold off (gave) Athlone to the Chinese!

Stupify

joshrogan wrote: »

What makes a man turn neutral?
Lust for gold?
Power?
Or were you just born with a heart full of neutrality?

All I know is my gut says maybe.

yermanoffthetv

TehDagsBass wrote: »

No, I want no form of allegiance with war hungry countries if possible. It's abhorrent that as a neutral country, we're letting the US use Shannon as a stop-over on their way to commit their atrocities in other countries.

Ehh its a bit late for that...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordic_Battle_Group
We were never neutral, non alligned maybe but the above link kind of nails our colours to the post since there are 2 NATO members in our battle group.

Nothingbetter2d

it won't be long now before we have german bases if angela gets her treaty

Capt'n Midnight

LK_Dave wrote: »

Why does it have to be military? Why not lease out a port to foreign fishing fleets so they can fish the international waters of the Atlantic and Arctic oceans? Or a cargo port to one of the BRIC countries as a transit hub for their exports to EU and Eastern markets?

I think you'll find that most cars imported in to the EU arrive here and are transshipped to the other countries.

long range shooter

Augmerson wrote: »

Surely the island is in a strategic position in the Atlantic, halfway between Europe and the US. If the government considered it, do you think we could make billions in leases to foreign powers to use our territory as a station for their military forces?

Imagine Argentine special forces based in Donegal.

Chinese subs in Cork.

Russian reconnaissance flights from Casement Aerodrome.

If we are serious about getting out of this ****ing eternal recession, surely we should consider every option? Let's get inventive. I guess the real question is, how far would you go to get us out of the current mess we are in, and it is a bit of a mess alright.

Well if you want to start world war 3 go ahead

xflyer

I'm sorry no one wants us as a base. We don't even want us as a base.

We had our chance in WW2. But we blew it. Imagine how much money would be generated if Shannon was an actual USAF base. Despite what the usual suspects like to pretend, Shannon is just a very quiet airport where American flights happen to stop every now and then.

It's laughable that some people think Shannon is actually important to the Americans or anyone else except some people in Clare.:D

Ambient Occlusion

Just out of curiosity, do we have any anti ballistic missile defences?

Fromthetrees

I'm just posting so that I don't have an evil number of posts hanging over me while I sleep. 667 baby ftw. :cool:

yermanoffthetv

Ambient Occlusion wrote: »

Just out of curiosity, do we have any anti ballistic missile defences?

We only have the short range RBS 70 which can shoot down aircraft/drones/cruise missles. anti ballistic missile systems are a different ball park altogether. billions for a system like the S-400 triumf. So we wont have one any time soon either.

Ambient Occlusion

yermanoffthetv wrote: »

We only have the short range RBS 70 which can shoot down aircraft/drones/cruise missles. anti ballistic missile systems are a different ball park altogether. billions for a system like the S-400 triumf. So we wont have one any time soon either.

I assume Britain would take one out for us, if not for our sake, to remove the risk of fallout for them.

Delancey

Why do Irish people have such an inflated opinion as to the strategic importance of the island ?
It was strategically important once - not anymore.

IrishAm

Delancey wrote: »

Why do Irish people have such an inflated opinion as to the strategic importance of the island ?
It was strategiaclly important once - not anymore.

Tell that to the Brits.

Its the reason you are a PSNI officer and not a member of AGS.

golden lane

IrishAm wrote: »

Tell that to the Brits.

Its the reason you are a PSNI officer and not a member of AGS.

what strategic importance does ireland have..........

naval, air, groundforces, nuclear subs............i am afraid there is none.....

Augmerson

Delancey wrote: »

Why do Irish people have such an inflated opinion as to the strategic importance of the island ?
It was strategiaclly important once - not anymore.

We have ice-free ports all along our Atlantic coastline. While our port facilities are not up to scratch, we have some excellent natural harbours and better infrastructure could make these very valuable.

Recently China has been attempting to become a member of the Arctic Council, an organization which promotes co-operation between nations close to the Arctic circle. An area most of us would think is well out of it's concern, it's nowhere near it. Perhaps times have changed, and countries like China will seek to increase it's influence wherever possible.

Airbases in Ireland may not be that useful considering the superpowers have refuelling aircraft but as a base for merchant and naval forces, it's very strategic.

IrishAm

golden lane wrote: »

what strategic importance does ireland have..........

Are you seriously asking me to believe that Britain annually spends £23.5 billion in an area it has no strategic interest in?

golden lane

IrishAm wrote: »

Are you seriously asking me to believe that Britain annually spends £23.5 billion in an area it has no strategic interest in?

i am not asking you anything.......just stating my very wise opinion.....

it does not cost £23.5 billion........

IrishAm

golden lane wrote: »

i am not asking you anything.......just stating my very wise opinion.....

it does not cost £23.5 billion........

It does.

golden lane

IrishAm wrote: »

It does.

well, as i'm sure you are an expert......i will not believe the british politicians......

they don't pay tax or vat there.....good for them.....

Rotating Egg

Did we not tell Winston Churchill to fuCk off on this very question?

golden lane

Rotating Egg wrote: »

Did we not tell Winston Churchill to fuCk off on this very question?

well, the british electorate, told him that in 1945.......

i believe he cried............poor man..