Irish Examiner view: Swift action must follow promises on Defence Forces reforms

Over the past year, we have seen little other than the continued emasculation of our army, naval service, and air corps

The LÉ Niamh is one of two vessels mothballed by the navy because there is not enough crew to staff them. Picture: Denis Scannell

Twelve months ago, we saw — and broadly welcomed — the report from the Commission on the Defence Forces which outlined the pressing need for investment in our army, naval service, and air corps if they were to be able to simply carry out their duties.

Rather than revitalisation over the year since we have seen little other than the continued emasculation of each branch of our Defence Forces — to the point where their combined strength has dropped to below 8,000, some 1,500 members short of its establishment strength of 9,500. On top of that, the revelation in this newspaper that shortage of personnel could see the reserve Defence Forces vanish altogether within three years, came as another blow.