Ireland - now considered one of most vulnerable countries in the EU (defense wise)

Ireland doesnt need to spend anymore on defense if anything it needs more Guards, if it gets so bad that the big bad wolf ends up on our shores, then no amount of money or increase in military personnel will save us.

All this talk on conscription around Europe is pure waffle. Neither Nato or Russia will face each other directly, its a no win scenario for everyone concerned.

I have said it here before that since the foundation of the State the overall attitude of its citizens towards the Defence Forces has been poor. We have an army only because every country has an Army therefore we should have one too. However when it comes to equipping same to defend the country there is no desire to do so. Instead our army is deployed on peacekeepong missions keeping two tribes apart in so.e part of the world. We can all go around clapping ourselves on the back for this.

We either pay up to have an army that can defend the state, which is the primary mission, or we get rid of it. Our politicians will easily find some way to waste the funds currently spent in effectively on the defence of the country.

You think that British Conservative think tank a while back actually cared about Ireland being able to defend itself or do you think they had their defence industry lobby on their behalf?

im sure there are a few.

if uk wasn't in nato then russian jets wouldn't be messing with them and using our airspace as the route in the first place. now would they?

its strange how theres a mental block in trying to get this through to some people .... uk/nato are the 'cause' of the russian planes being in irish airspace.

they cause the issue. (-1) so they get to 'fix' the issue (+1). = 0. Which is the level of gratitude we owe.

much as if i hit your car, i 'caused' the probem. so i get to 'fix' the problem.

This is unless you believe Russia has been entering Irish airspace to target Dublin (non-nato, non-nuclear), rather than London (nuclear, nato member).

Our position in the world has given us the option of being freeloaders, which we have accepted with gusto, but the world is changing...America can no longer be relied upon, the Trump presidency saw to that, the potential for chaos over there is scarily close now with religious fundamentalism on the rise, with isolationism and far right agendas gaining more and more traction, Trump has changed the rules forever, his presidency has allowed for lunacy to become a viable political option, where facts no longer matter, where deals and agreements don't matter, where being Allies now goes to the highest bidder.

Nobody is expecting Ireland to be a superpower, but we don't even have the basics, no radar, navy, air force nothing, we should be able to monitor our own sea and sky, be capable of sharing information with our Allies, the current situation is embarrassing and we are freeloaders, taking advantage of our safe position but as I said the world is changing and not for the better.

But our attitude is never going to change and we all no it, not unless something drastic happens, as per usual it will take something extreme to happen before anything is done about the current set up.