Minister for Defence Helen McEntee will launch a new maritime security strategy this week, which is expected to call for deepening partnership with the UK and France, along with participation in an EU regional hub monitoring the North Atlantic.
When I was in government we supported the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, which was published four years ago, just before the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The world has changed since, with an incredible advance in the capability and primacy of drone warfare on land, air and sea. Subsequent attacks on Baltic subsea cables and gas pipelines have also shown there is a threat to similar critical infrastructure here, which cannot be ignored.
. Some may fear that deepening links with the UK, France and participation in the EU hub could lead to a weakening of our military neutrality – but I think the biggest risk is if Ireland was unable to defend itself. Co-operation can strengthen rather than compromise our neutrality.
We already depend on our neighbours for maritime support in many ways. The best example is in how Irish Lights works with its UK counterparts to maintain lighthouses and keep shipping lanes clear. Similarly, we are dependent on others to bring in a towing vessel, should a large ship be in distress in our seas. We already liaise with the British Royal Navy and airforce and with the French armed forces. I don’t think we can manage the Irish or Celtic Sea by putting a line down the middle and saying you protect your side, while we look after ours.
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There are three things I hope will be contained in the new strategy.
The first would be an immediate commitment to a full-time naval base in Dún Laoghaire. Our most sensitive fibre optic cables and gas pipelines are concentrated in the Irish Sea and we need to have a vessel patrolling the area immediately rather than waiting for someone to sail up from Cork should something suspicious be identified.
The Naval Service has been unable to operate its full complement of eight vessels because of the difficulty in attracting and retaining crew in the port of Cork, where local companies snap up everyone with technical and engineering skills. That would be less of a problem if we also had a Dublin base.
We should also be looking to establish a naval base in Rossaveal in Galway bay, where more than €30 million was recently spent expanding the port, only for the project to be stalled due to a flaw in the original planning application. A decision on a substitute consent to solve that problem is due next month. If it is given approval, it would make sense to use the new pier for naval operations, as Ireland’s fishing fleet is contracting and the local community has a great maritime tradition.
The second element would be to redeploy the skills we have developed in the last 20 years in ocean energy research. Even through the darkest days of the financial crash, the State kept investing in such capability. We did so by funding the MaREI research centre in Cork and the Infomar project, which has since mapped the entire sea bed. We also supported prototype devices from companies such as Open Hydro and Wavebob, some of the most advanced tidal and wave energy companies in the world.
That tradition continues with XOcean, for example, a company based in Louth that employs 240 people globally, using uncrewed service vessels and advanced data systems to assist in the planning and development of offshore energy projects.
These are the sort of skills we will need to maintain offshore floating platforms that can help us monitor and protect Atlantic waters. Those sea areas are seven times larger than Ireland’s land area and are among the most sensitive ecological sites in a climate changing world. The offshore platforms could help protect our sovereignty, give us a better understanding of what is happening to the natural world and thus help defend it. That has always been a main mission for the Naval Service and it too needs to grow.
The new strategy could bring a new band of “play station sailors” to join the Naval Service. In Ukraine the most vital troops are the ones with their fingers on the drone controls. Plenty of young Irish people have similar skills and Irish cities are home to the gaming industries and cyber security companies that will be critical in meeting Ireland’s future security needs.
The Commission on the Defence Forces recognised some of this four years ago but the pace of change has been faster than anyone could have expected. It is time for Ireland to invest in maritime defence, maintaining our neutrality but enhancing our understanding, ingenuity and capability.
