Interesting articles

Newstalk are known for it. I'd say it was gaslighting myself, for the clicks.

I'm not so sure 🤣

Couldn't read the entire article as not a subscriber. I do recall an article a long time ago that the budget for food was not really adequate and that it was significantly less per person fed per day than the budget for the prison service. So it's no wonder the chefs feel they are doing a thankless job trying to keep their customers happy when faced with trying to put nourishing and attractive food on the table on a budget that really only runs to junk food. Not the kind of career you want after spending years honing your skills at catering college and working your way up in the profession......

Isn't that the modern problem companies complaining they can't get staff, people saying they can't get hired.

Dinosaur of an organisation.

https://www.thejournal.ie/army-ranger-wing-operators-wicklow-6117654-Aug2023/

Thats a sobering statistic. Very sobering.

Such as the fact the Navy are down to one ship again for Patrolling our waters.

That theres a strong chance Bristow may try to gut the Air Corps No.3 Ops wing to fullfill the SAR contract.

That the reserve really does not exist anymore or that fact the army are struggling to man and operate every base in the country apart Finner Camp.

I think that's because there has been an outbreak of covid on a second vessel and it has had to return to Cobh and the ship's company are in quarantine.....

I think the issue is not so much parity with private sector. But it's not viable even for those more interested in a life in the services then a regular job. By viable I mean basic standards of living.

SAR was privatised because Govt wouldn't invest in the Air Corps. The Air Corps had done it daylight only from 1963 to 1987, them 24/7 from 87 to 2000. After the Air Corps overloaded Dauphin with its overtired crew ploughed into a sand dune in Tramore, the writing was on the wall there.

I'm surprised the Air Corps still has GASU. Time will tell if that stays.

The semise of the G4, and the progressive ageing of the Lear45 sees government using charger aircraft instead of replacing either, and nobody seems to care.

The NS are slowly losing Fishery protection, good in ways, but bad because the current generation of vessels were designed with fishery protection as their primary purpose.

The ATCP role the Army was primarily tasked with gradually stood down since the peace process begun.

All that is left for the DF to do now is defend the state, and its clear successive governments have no interest in that.

Of course the next winter weather event the DF will be called by local authorities to assist again, though there may not be anyone left to fill the sandbags by then.

Maybe they can get a contractor to do it?

It's laughable. Politicians want to get elected/re-elected and any party that puts this forward would be laughed off the ballot. Moreover the very idea is flawed, we are where we are because the generations of Governments have had no interest in spending anything close to a reasonable amount on defence. Having a compulsory national service will do nothing to change that no have any meaningful impact on our issues.

This is a whole new European and Global security paradigm.

There was little or no threat to our infrastructure and resources in the FEMPI era and so bad and all as the raid on the DF, it was justifiable by the Government of the day.

The adoption of the CoDF report and corresponding commitment to budgetary increase show we most certainly are in a different era.

We need personnel for all this shiny new gear and so putting them in place in an era of growth and full employment with salary competitiveness, requires brand new thinking.

If all other attempted solutions to this are exhausted, whatever remains, no matter how unlikely, must be the answer.

I’m afraid me boys, if with The current Tanaiste / min defence, current finance minister and previous minister for defence all in Cork adjacent to Haulbowline can’t sort allowances for naval personnel where the case is obvious - more ships than men / women to crew them with at least half the fleet tied up, tangible and growing strategic interests to be defended there is little prospect of any change ….

as I have stated before the DF establishment level is pie in the sky stuff for the short to medium term unfortunately there is not the willingness to spend the money necessary, plus with full employment few want that life

We had a "perfect storm" in the current government for instant improvement in the Naval service at least. A minister living in the same constituency as the naval base, with a background in sailing, and a good friend to the NS while in opposition, followed by a Minister who succeeded in turning chain smoking irish pubgoers into smoke free zones, and reforming the health boards, and if that wasn't enough, the man in charge of the purse strings a running mate of the Former Taoiseach and current defence Minister.

We had all the ducks in a row. There were no barriers.

Instead everything went Pete Tong.