Ireland - NATO
The 1926 Council of Defence decision to rely on the British to defend Irish territory collapsed in 1939 when the UK told Ireland that it was on its own and declined to provide military equipment. This refusal to provide military equipment was repeated by the British in the post War period and as a result Irish defence forces languished. The proffer of the State to join NATO, on condition partition was ended, was also rejected. The partition “reason” for not joining NATO became irrelevant by virtue of the Belfast Agreement, which provides a democratic pathway to ending partition. The policy of “neutrality because of partition” was consigned to history.
At the famous 1963 meeting between Presidents John F. Kennedy and Eamon de Valera, Kennedy is reputed to have raised the question of Irish participation in NATO, to which de Valera is purported to have replied that such an alliance could not even be considered by a divided Ireland. It is true that, unlike the English attitude quintessentially expressed by Sir Winston Churchill after the war, the Irish American perception is one which laments the Partition of Ireland and the occupation of part of the Irish national territory by the British as the cause not only of the continuing "troubles" in those six of the divided Irish province of Ulster's nine counties known as "Northern Ireland" but also as the cause of that presumably lamentable Irish neutrality.
NATO skeptics argued that the fractured economy of a fractured Ireland could not support a military establishment of the magnitude which might be required to fully honor any Irish NATO commitments. A proposal to join NATO would be as politically divisive to Ireland as was the question of American entry into World War II divisive to the United States before the attack upon Pearl Harbor. The potential benefits of NATO membership are further minimized in view of the potential exposure to nuclear attack in case of greatpower conflict, as well as the fact that the NATO nuclear umbrella already protects Ireland in much the same manner as American military power protects Japan. Thus Ireland like Japan, remained free of the burden of devoting a larger portion of its GNP to military purposes. There was realistically no more danger of the Soviet Union using Ireland as the staging base for an invasion of England than there was of a return of the Spanish Armada, Napolean Bonaparte, or any other bogeyman in the English historical consciousness.
NATO Allies have argued for an end to Irish neutrality and for the integration of Ireland into NATO, concomitant with her integration into the European Economic Community. Ireland lies astride the sea lanes through which Europe, and even, Great Britain must be reinforced and resupplied in the event of a crisis. It should be obvious that Ireland would make the ideal base for anti-submarine patrolling and for air search radars to protect Britain from any backdoor attack by Backfire bombers or sea-launched missiles. Add to this the greater ease with which Irishmen might be pressumed to be induced into joining a nominally Irish army rather than seek foreign military service.
The Partition of Ireland, however, continued to make Irish membership in NATO a domestic political impossibility for the simple reason that part of the Irish national territory remained occupied by forces of a member of the Alliance. Ireland and the occupation of part of the Irish national territory by the British as the cause not only of the continuing "troubles" in those six of the divided Irish province of Ulster's nine counties known as "Northern Ireland" but also as the cause of that presumably lamentable Irish neutrality.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence, Micheál Martin TD on 18 May 2023 stated "Norway, with whom we served on the UN Security Council, is a country that is extremely active in peacebuilding and conflict prevention across the world, but also a longstanding NATO member and a country that has taken its own security very seriously since its experience under German occupation during the Second World War. Sweden and Finland, two fellow EU Member States, with whom we share many values and interests, have of course now chosen to seek NATO membership following Russia’s latest invasion of Ukraine."
Ireland is a small, independent and traditionally neutral country. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the decision by Sweden and Finland to join NATO, provoked a more active debate in Ireland on security and defence policy and traditional policy of military neutrality. In addition to long-standing engagement in UN peacekeeping, Ireland is an active participant in the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) and contributes personnel to military and civilian crisis management missions.
Ireland joined Partnership for Peace [PfP] on 01 December 1999. Participation in PfP is entirely voluntary. The essence of the PfP programme is a partnership formed individually between each Partner country and NATO, tailored to individual needs and jointly implemented at the level and pace chosen by each participating government. Ireland’s five priority areas of interest are: o Co-operation on International Peacekeeping; o Humanitarian operations; o Search and Rescue; o Co-operation in the protection of the Environment; o Co-operation in Marine Matters. In common with other neutral EU Member States who are members of PfP, Ireland participates in the PfP Planning and Review Process (PARP) mechanism for planning in relation to peace support operations. The scope of Ireland’s involvement in PARP is focused on enhancing interoperability so that Defence Forces personnel can operate efficiently.
Ireland has been a member of NATO’s Partnership for Peace for almost a quarter of a century. To date, this partnership has principally focused on upgrading our military capabilities and standards, thereby ensuring the effectiveness and interoperability of Ireland's Defence Forces. At its Madrid Summit in 2022, NATO outlined a range of existing and new areas for partners such as Austria, Switzerland or Ireland to work with them on. These include maritime security, cyber and hybrid, climate and security, and resilience and critical infrastructure. With Ireland negotiating an updated partnership framework with NATO, the Forum offers a good opportunity to explore some of these potential areas of mutual interest and relevance to this State.
Ireland resisted NATO-led pressure to join NATO. Yet, some 226 Irish troops served in the country over fifteen years in NATO-led missions in Afghanistan. The Department of Foreign Affairs manages Ireland’s participation in the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council and NATO’s Partnership for Peace framework (PfP) in coordination with the Department of Defence. The PfP is a programme of practical bilateral cooperation between partner countries and NATO. It allows partners to build up an individual relationship with NATO, choosing their own priorities for cooperation. Since joining PfP in 1999, Ireland's involvement delivered significant improvements for Defence Forces in terms of capability development and interoperability.
As stated in the White Paper on Defence 2015, NATO standards have become the accepted standard-setting benchmarks for modern military forces and, as such, it is necessary for the Defence Forces to be trained and equipped to NATO standards. The White Paper also states that the Defence Forces must be able to operate jointly, in that the organisation should be able to bring elements of the Army, Air Corps and Naval Service together to deliver operational effects in a coordinated and cohesive manner. The policy commitment made in the 2015 White Paper was that it was necessary for the Defence Forces to be trained and equipped to NATO standards. But by 2022 the current battalions did not align to NATO standards, were under-staffed and under-resourced.
The year 2023 saw Ireland negotiating a new cooperation program with NATO under Partnership for Peace (PfP). This was an opportunity in particular to expand cooperation into areas where NATO expertise and experience sharing is of particular help.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
