Ireland is Europe’s ‘weakest link’ in defence and intelligence

The country’s neutrality has been “eroded by successive governments” and it is now time for a national debate on the issue.

That is according to one of the country’s leading security experts, who says he is not surprised that the RAF would intervene in a terrorist hijacking of a plane in our airspace because we do not have the capability to deal with such an incident. He described Ireland as “Europe’s weakest link when it comes to intelligence-gathering and defence”.

Tom Clonan, a former army officer, said that, in an extreme emergency, such as a mid-air hijack, “it was essential we have recourse to our neighbour’s assets”.