How much to protect skies above Ireland?

Russian ‘Bear’ bombers were recently involved in ‘very unusual’ activities over Irish skies, chased away by the British. Can’t we protect our own airspace, asks Sean O’Riordan

THE reality of the Cold War-era cat-and-mouse games played out in Irish-controlled airspace earlier this month between the Russian Bear and British Bulldog is that this country is like “a hurler on the ditch” which can’t defend its skies because of years of neglect by successive governments in properly equipping the air corps.

None of its planes have jet engines and can’t even keep up with archaic Soviet-era propeller-powered bombers, let alone modern aircraft. Even the Defence Forces radar capabilities are well below par, which leaves them incapable of reacting to terrorist hijacks or the regular incursions into our airspace by foreign military planes.