Yep. Switzerland is neutral (and so were Sweden and Finland until recently) and they’re armed to teeth.
At the very least, we should have modern figher jets – not some rinky dink biplanes.
We can’t rely on a security guarantee from the UK or US, two absolute basketcase countries at the moment.
[deleted] on
[deleted]
sureyouknowurself on
I’m sure a career general has zero relationships with the arms industry.
tacticalpint on
Correct.
Defence spending needs increased from 0.3% to 1% at least.
Improve infrastructure within the DF.
Streamline the recruitment process to cope with applicants (waiting times to start recruits is anywhere from 6-24 months)
Modernise the armed forces.
And get rid of that bloody triple lock.
Gold-Vacation-169 on
He’s certainly not wrong, we shouldn’t have to depend on the UK.
We’ve seen in the past 10 years how crazy a friendly country to Ireland can go and the UK could get even worse if Reform get into power. Farrage would be hostile to Ireland.
Environmental-Net286 on
Sean Clancy hunt for the creamy pint.
Duck_quacker on
A lot of very naive tankies in this thread
NiceManWhoIsFriendly on
A war is going to happen regardless.
ee3k on
if you would have peace, prepare for war.
hmmm_ on
Our leaders should stop apologising for wanting the means to defend ourselves. Of all countries we should know what it means when imperialist forces start building in bigger countries. We need a reasonably strong military and good allies to protect ourselves from whatever might happen.
cinclushibernicus on
Que Paul Murphy or RBB screaming something about the NATO military industrial complex
Crusty_Bap on
Munich Agreement 2.0.
TheMisunderstoodLeaf on
It’s absolutely time for Ireland to get with the times.
General_Z0 on
Yesterday needs to be a wake up call for the EU and for Ireland. We need a European army and we need to drop the neutrality shtick.
Willbo_Bagg1ns on
The biggest challenge is going to be convincing the public that neutrality doesn’t give us any safety. Most people in Ireland don’t understand the peace dividend is over and we are horribly vulnerable as a nation.
On a side note I am always amazed how much more reasoned the vast majority of posters here on r/ireland are about this issue compared to our Politics page. Was reading stuff there and the amount of it that is border line conspiracy theory or out right hostile to the EU is unreal.
HedFuka on
800 billion..as usual it’s old men wars fought by the young..and we pay twice ..from our pockets and with our son’s and daughters,father’s and mother’s ..peace my arse
>Nearly 47,000 people died of gun-related injuries in the United States in 2023, according to the latest available statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While the number of gun deaths in the U.S. fell for the second consecutive year, it remained among the highest annual totals on record.
Zero gun deaths in Ireland last year.
gcampb41 on
This is Orwellian double speak at its finest. Fact is he’s a professional soldier inherently biased towards a military solution and he’s not the only general in Europe begging from more kit and more funding and more soldiers.
It’s clearer than ever that if every country had a nuclear deterrent it would solve all of this.
Key-Lie-364 on
Please define neutrality ?
– The RAF flying sorties in our airspace when Russia incurs
– Ireland seeking help from European allies when the Russians go snooping around internet cables and gas interconnectors
– Providing radar systems but not the rocket launchers to go with them to Ukraine
– Lacking the ability to police our own airspace and waters – we can only put 2/8 of our ships to sea at any one time.
– Delegating to Russia, China, the US, Britain and France the right to deploy our own soldiers
– Electing Cathrine Connolly who compared German rearmament in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the Nazi build up of the 1930s
– Clare Daly, Mick Wallace and fellow travellers lecturing Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland on “NATO imperialism” and how really its someone else’s fault than Russia that Russia is inside Ukraine killing Ukranians right now
Can someone explain where the fuck we get off with all of this shite exactly, because I can’t make head nor tail of it.
Isn’t our position really “not my problem boss, I’m grand over here all on my own. But sure like, if we have some sort of security problem ourselves – sure you’re a grand lad, you’ll pop over to sort it out for us”
Like there’s up your own hole Me Feinism and then there’s Ireland’s security policy position…
Ok-Helicopter-1084 on
Irish people really have fallen for the propaganda on here at least that the UK looks after us.
It’s beyond stupid. They occupy 6 counties of the island and we’re a weak spot in to their airspace that’s it. Who exactly do we need protecting from ? Russia bogged down in Ukraine and if they invaded Ireland they would be finished. China wants Taiwan, zero chance of them coming to invade Ireland.
So who else are we getting protecting from? The only nation we needed protecting from are apparently those doing the protecting.. see the protection afforded north of the border. I mean it would be hilarious if it wasn’t so farcical. There is literally zero hope for some people.
despicedchilli on
It’s also about getting kickbacks for spending our taxes on American military surplus junk.
24 Comments
He’s not wrong
Yep. Switzerland is neutral (and so were Sweden and Finland until recently) and they’re armed to teeth.
At the very least, we should have modern figher jets – not some rinky dink biplanes.
We can’t rely on a security guarantee from the UK or US, two absolute basketcase countries at the moment.
[deleted]
I’m sure a career general has zero relationships with the arms industry.
Correct.
Defence spending needs increased from 0.3% to 1% at least.
Improve infrastructure within the DF.
Streamline the recruitment process to cope with applicants (waiting times to start recruits is anywhere from 6-24 months)
Modernise the armed forces.
And get rid of that bloody triple lock.
He’s certainly not wrong, we shouldn’t have to depend on the UK.
We’ve seen in the past 10 years how crazy a friendly country to Ireland can go and the UK could get even worse if Reform get into power. Farrage would be hostile to Ireland.
Sean Clancy hunt for the creamy pint.
A lot of very naive tankies in this thread
A war is going to happen regardless.
if you would have peace, prepare for war.
Our leaders should stop apologising for wanting the means to defend ourselves. Of all countries we should know what it means when imperialist forces start building in bigger countries. We need a reasonably strong military and good allies to protect ourselves from whatever might happen.
Que Paul Murphy or RBB screaming something about the NATO military industrial complex
Munich Agreement 2.0.
It’s absolutely time for Ireland to get with the times.
Yesterday needs to be a wake up call for the EU and for Ireland. We need a European army and we need to drop the neutrality shtick.
The biggest challenge is going to be convincing the public that neutrality doesn’t give us any safety. Most people in Ireland don’t understand the peace dividend is over and we are horribly vulnerable as a nation.
https://media1.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPTZjMDliOTUydjk3NGI0MmtxemJrdmRwc2lyYjdiOThncjg2aW44OHU2bGhqcXZwcSZlcD12MV9pbnRlcm5hbF9naWZfYnlfaWQmY3Q9Zw/xT5LMDMOJARnj2KtkA/giphy.gif
On a side note I am always amazed how much more reasoned the vast majority of posters here on r/ireland are about this issue compared to our Politics page. Was reading stuff there and the amount of it that is border line conspiracy theory or out right hostile to the EU is unreal.
800 billion..as usual it’s old men wars fought by the young..and we pay twice ..from our pockets and with our son’s and daughters,father’s and mother’s ..peace my arse
Guns are not weapons they’re law enforcers.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/03/05/what-the-data-says-about-gun-deaths-in-the-us/
>Nearly 47,000 people died of gun-related injuries in the United States in 2023, according to the latest available statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). While the number of gun deaths in the U.S. fell for the second consecutive year, it remained among the highest annual totals on record.
Zero gun deaths in Ireland last year.
This is Orwellian double speak at its finest. Fact is he’s a professional soldier inherently biased towards a military solution and he’s not the only general in Europe begging from more kit and more funding and more soldiers.
It’s clearer than ever that if every country had a nuclear deterrent it would solve all of this.
Please define neutrality ?
– The RAF flying sorties in our airspace when Russia incurs
– Ireland seeking help from European allies when the Russians go snooping around internet cables and gas interconnectors
– Providing radar systems but not the rocket launchers to go with them to Ukraine
– Lacking the ability to police our own airspace and waters – we can only put 2/8 of our ships to sea at any one time.
– Delegating to Russia, China, the US, Britain and France the right to deploy our own soldiers
– Electing Cathrine Connolly who compared German rearmament in the face of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to the Nazi build up of the 1930s
– Clare Daly, Mick Wallace and fellow travellers lecturing Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Finland on “NATO imperialism” and how really its someone else’s fault than Russia that Russia is inside Ukraine killing Ukranians right now
Can someone explain where the fuck we get off with all of this shite exactly, because I can’t make head nor tail of it.
Isn’t our position really “not my problem boss, I’m grand over here all on my own. But sure like, if we have some sort of security problem ourselves – sure you’re a grand lad, you’ll pop over to sort it out for us”
Like there’s up your own hole Me Feinism and then there’s Ireland’s security policy position…
Irish people really have fallen for the propaganda on here at least that the UK looks after us.
It’s beyond stupid. They occupy 6 counties of the island and we’re a weak spot in to their airspace that’s it. Who exactly do we need protecting from ? Russia bogged down in Ukraine and if they invaded Ireland they would be finished. China wants Taiwan, zero chance of them coming to invade Ireland.
So who else are we getting protecting from? The only nation we needed protecting from are apparently those doing the protecting.. see the protection afforded north of the border. I mean it would be hilarious if it wasn’t so farcical. There is literally zero hope for some people.
It’s also about getting kickbacks for spending our taxes on American military surplus junk.