Is it time to join Nato

https://www.radiokerry.ie/news/china-coastguard-vessel-tracked-off-kerry-coast-282020

Might this be NATO related? China can be a right pillock sometimes as the Aussies can tell you.

Because we have zero capability to defend against any aggression foreign or domestic .

Zero analysis , I'm sure the same was said about Sweden , Finland and Switzerland , countries with advanced military capabilities and defense forces .

We have nothing bar a few thousand underpaid and under equipped defense forces that many people want to see disbanded for some strange reason

But if we had real advanced naval capabilities we could track and intercept and deter foreign aggressors in the first place,

Even without proper fighting vessels we could invest in anti shipping and coastal defense, including radar installations we could also track and intercept foreign vessels carrying drugs

We usually send more money to Africa which is then used to buy migs and hind gunships than we send to the department of defense for the defense forces.

I feel like the only worse thing than having zero capability to defend against foreign invasion is spending vast sums of money to only reach a level where we still probably can’t defend against a foreign invasion. There is only a realistic level the Irish armed forces can actually reach — so our contribution to NATO wouldn’t be much and our capacity for self-defence would probably still be inadequate.

The only real material benefit for Ireland would be having the insurance policy of NATO deployment if we are ever attacked — but the risk of that is infinitesimally small. In any case, even if we weren’t in NATO, it’s nigh impossible to envision a scenario where the Western powers would ever tolerate any military build-up of such extent on the European shores of the Atlantic that could be a precursor to an invasion of Ireland.

Dropping Irish neutrality could be justifiable in my eyes, insofar as we are clearly aligned to the West as well as being full participants in and profiteers of the Western system, but I don’t think joining NATO would be at this stage anything more than expensive symbolism.

No - neutrality is of great benefit

it allows us to not side with NATO on its crusades in Iraq, Afghanistan or wherever the next one is.

Would we spend 2% on our military? what for? we can't even house our own homeless

For Sweden and Finland it is a bad move, Sweden will have to forget some of its principles, to placate turkey, they will have to shaft the Kurds (a familiar story) and whoever else the Turks demand. They will have to Ignore the Armenian Genocide or never call it such!

Ukraine .

Finland and Sweden won't be doing anything to placate Erdogan , placating one scumbag has gotten us to where Europe is now gearing up for a conflict

But they need Turkish support (as well as from all the other country's parliaments) to join NATO, so Turkey could block it.