Dorcha Lee: Security will be the big challenge for Ireland's EU presidency

New radar would allow our Defence Forces to watch in real time as our subsea cables are ripped up — they still have no capacity to intervene

Minister for foreign affairs and defence, Helen McEntee (left), and the head of the Irish Naval Service, Commodore Darragh Kirwan (right). The minister has brought forward the acquisition process for primary radar to track aircraft and a range of maritime surveillance equipment to monitor the vulnerable cables off the West Coast. File photo: Sam Boal/Collins Photos

The recent spate of Department of Defence announcements on the re-equipment of the Defence Forces (DF), comingled with security arrangements for the incoming Irish EU presidency, may have confused the public. 

It is important to separate out the long-term re-equipment programmes for the DF, from the short-term security requirements for the six-month Irish EU presidency period, starting on July 1. Hopefully, the long-term programmes will be completed before the subsequent Irish presidency, which will be sometime, having regard to probable EU expansion, between 2038 and 2043.