Do we really need an army these days? Defence Forces? Surely, a costly luxury that was once the sine qua non of statehood, but today has little real relevance domestically beyond ceremonial duties, the training of elite riders, escorting bank payments, flying ministers around, and some search and rescue functions. After all, no-one really believes that this State faces a serious threat of invasion, or that territorial defence is more than a notional priority. What about protecting our/the EU's fisheries? There may be a case for the Naval Service, but ....
The Government's White Paper on Defence, published on Thursday, and only the second in the history of the State, sets out to answer that implicit, unstated and heretical question. And does so effectively, making an important case in difficult financial times for modernisation of and investment in the Defence Forces in terms of a strong, idealistic commitment to international peacekeeping and multilateralism, firmly rooted in hard national interest concerns.
The concept of “national security” is no longer these days synonymous with territorial defence. “There is ... now,” the report argues at length, “a general acceptance that, due to increased interdependence and globalisation, the national security of many states is intertwined with regional and global security.” In Ireland’s case it is defined by it. National security doctrine is reinvented.
The real security challenges range from economic, environmental and social threats to transnational organised crime, mass uncontrolled migration, cyber crime, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and the growth of international terrorism. All can only be taken on collectively on a multilateral basis. Hence Ireland’s commitment to membership and full participation in UN, EU and OSCE security structures and operations. Not merely a reflection of goodwill, but an obligation of membership .
In 2015, defence expenditure (excluding pensions) is some 20.8 per cent less than 2008 and 14 per cent less than 2007. Ambitious modernisation, including lifting overall numbers to 9,500, the replacement of ships, aircraft and personnel carriers, the establishment of an Institute for Peace Support and Leadership, and a new employment support scheme for the young unemployed, has to be seen in this context. Welcome too is the commitment to doubling the number of women in the Defence Forces.
Minister for Defence Simon Coveney’s 10-year programme in the White Paper is a statement of intent, an aspiration. He acknowledges as much, pledging to fight his corner in the next budgets. “I make no bones about it,” he told journalists, “I think Ireland has underinvested in defence and I think we need to correct that. But that is not going to happen overnight.” We’ll see soon if the Government is prepared to take even the first step.