Cathal has a point. I had warned the JCFAT on 9 April 2014 about the need to invest in more robust defence posture. after Russian annexation of Crimea. As I earlier today indicated to Dan Mulhall, its a national imperative ever since independence was achieved over a century ago. The lesson that should be learnt is to have (a) an effective
@PresidentIRL behaving like a proper Commander-in-Chief, (b) a smart government that sees investment in adequate defence as an investment in Irish people and facilities, instead of dilapidating our assets to sell-off historic barracks to property developers and still have a growing housing shortage (I warned you about that after Brexit at your “State of the Union” in Gresham; but you were too young to know how we used our barracks to house 10,000 “refugees” from NA after the Bombay Street Belfast pogroms in 1969) and (c) an effective Dáil that ensures government accountability in line with Art. 28.4.1 of Bunreacht na hÉireann. Ireland has FAILED on all three of these, for decades. The response to LOA options pre-Feb 2022 wont keep pace with inflation. The woeful neglect renders us neutered more than neutral. As for the so called triple lock, get rid of it: it is an infringement on our sovereign “neutrality” to enable a P5 veto in a moribund UNSecCouncil.
