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“THEY’RE NOT TALKING about Martin Schulz in Cabra,” one Labour campaigner noted sagely this week.
They’re of course absolutely right but that didn’t dampen the enthusiastic welcome that Labour’s candidate for the top job in Europe got from party members at the Royal Hibernian Academy on Tuesday night.
Schulz, who had a touch of the flu, enjoyed dinner with the Tánaiste, Joan Burton, Ruairí Quinn, Labour chair Loraine Mulligan, and the Labour Youth chair Ciarán Garrett before the rally where he said lots of nice, soothing things about Ireland.
Poor Eamon Gilmore had had a torrid start to the week when one of his MEP’s said he was akin to an “elephant cantering around the room breaking things”. In other words, Phil Prendergast wanted him to go having been shocked into the call – the “last throw of the dice”, according to one campaign source – by an opinion poll which had her at just 4 per cent in Ireland South.
The obvious unease it created led to a showdown meeting with Gilmore at his office in Government Buildings on Tuesday evening where the discussions were, according to Prendergast, “frank” or as the Tánaiste noted with a menacing smile later that evening “very frank”.
There was much laughter at that remark, though we’re not sure if Phil was laughing because she hardly got a look in during the media scrum that greeted Gilmore and Schulz’s arrival:
Next morning at an early breakfast briefing Schulz was still recovering from his flu and still saying really nice things about Ireland. Our bailout hadn’t, at times, been very fair and had placed “an enormous burden on citizens” he told a small audience of advisors and journalists.
Gilmore claimed that the election of Schulz as president of the European Commission would be “a gamechanger” in Ireland”s long pursuit of a bank debt deal.
Among those to note it wasn’t the first time Gilmore had said this was the Fianna Fáil MEP candidate Thomas Byrne who was no doubt very excited about own party’s European campaign launch later in the morning:
Ironically the venue was the same as Labour’s the night before, the Royal Hibernian Academy, where Micheál Martin was flanked by Byrne, Dublin candidate Mary Fitzpatrick, and Ireland South hopeful Kieran Hartley.
While the party’s MEP Brian Crowley couldn’t make it (he was away on the campaign trail) its other sitting MEP Pat ‘The Cope’ Gallagher managed to make it in his car equipped with what looked like fairly effective loudspeakers:
Micheál Martin was equipped with plenty of confidence, brushing away questions about his leadership or the suggestion that the polls aren’t looking good for Fianna Fáil. ”They’re just polls,” he insisted.
He was reluctant to quantify the amount of grief the party and its candidates are getting on the doorsteps instead insisting that people “are engaging with us”. That’s reassuring to those who might have worried that voters are just staring vacantly into the distance after answering the door. Nope, there is actual doorstep engagement with candidates.
It was what voters are saying that we were interested in, but Martin gave no hint of any grief other than towards the government.
Whatever Labour and Fianna Fáil had in terms of an election launches this week, Fine Gael were determined to put on a show on Thursday, hiring out the modestly titled ‘Great Room’ at the Shelbourne Hotel for their local election campaign launch on Thursday (They’d already done their European one earlier in the week)
All the big guns were there including Michael Noonan and Phil Hogan and of course Enda Kenny himself who had a lovely green glow:
There are hundreds of Fine Gael local election candidates and the handful in the ‘Great Room’ were giddy with excitement as Michael Noonan spoke about tax cuts and how well the economy is doing to the point of announcing elements of the exchequer returns a day early.
At the conclusion of the press conference the candidates were told to grab their campaign posters for a photo-op with the Taoiseach. Such was the frantic rush, this journalist nearly had his eye taken out by one poster, as they scrambled for a prime position with the dear leader:
http://vine.co/v/MrODWrd7T7l
Later on Thursday, Labour launched its local and European election campaign (a two-for-one, if you will) in the gorgeous Smock Alley Theatre where one sign advertised a bottle of beer for €5. It was just coffee or tea for the waiting journalists, advisors and candidates with banners around the room noting the achievements of Labour in government.
Some were fairly important, some not so much:
The Tánaiste arrived with a large possé including the European candidates, but not Phil Prendergast. Had she snubbed Eamon again? Nope, she was just running late, we were told and she did eventually arrive in the middle of the speeches.
Gilmore seemed in great form, giving out about corrupt developers and councillors and highlighting the fact Labour has never had a dodgy councillor in its ranks.
Afterwards there was a Q&A where he was asked if his leadership would be up for debate if Labour had a poor election. “No, Paraic, my leadership is not up for debate or not up for anything,” he told Newstalk’s political correspondent.
Later Gilmore admitted that the prospect of water charges has been “making life difficult” for Labour candidates on the doorsteps. That’s doorstep engagement for you.
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This is a nonsense story. Its 240km of the Irish coast. Irish territorial waters end at 22km. This is 218km outside of that. Its clearly in International waters. Like in the movies you can do what you like there as no laws cover international waters. You can do drugs whatever you like. If it was Japan or Turkey doing the same, we could still do nothing about it. US cruisers often park themselves 22km off the Russian coast and its perfectly legit.
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: it’s literally the opposite of a nonsense story, everything Tom said here is worryingly true
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: Nevermind lads, Diarmuid said it’s grand!
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: how does the distance involved invalidate everything else in the article???
@Graham Manning: It doesn’t of course. Diarmaid is talking shyte.
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: Well-researched article from someone who knows what they’re talking about followed by nonsense comment from someone who doesn’t.
It’s pretty simple – we have strong economic and cultural ties to the US, we have no ties to Russia. They’re in that area for all the malign reasons the article says.
And as for the US parking their ships close to Russia, why should that be of consequence to Ireland? Russian ships in our EEZ isn’t equivalent from an Irish perspective and let’s not pretend it is.
@Keith Fay: Was the transporting of political/innocent hostages by a foreign army through one of civilian airports worrying?
Was it worrying when British Submarines regularly got tangled in the nets of Irish Trawlers fishing in Irish waters in the 1980′s/90′s?
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: Here’s a map of where the naval exercise is planned (based on multiple sources, though I like to conform this with an official Russian source):
https://i.imgur.com/1nyJfIT.png
Exercises will be held between 04:00 to 14:00 local time daily within Ireland’s EEZ, in International waters so we have no say over this, however, it’s obviously provocative.
“Extending beyond this point and reaching up to 200 nautical miles (370.4 km) from a country’s coast lies its Exclusive Economic Zone. Within this region, a country owns the natural resources at the seafloor but has no say on what happens at the surface. Any ships in an Exclusive Economic Zone are essentially in international waters.”
@Angela McCarthy: no
@Keith Fay: booo Keith boooo
@Angela McCarthy: such giberydo and bogolitious nonsense
Absolutely we need to invest. Radar, cyber and some sort of air force so we don’t have to rely on the RAF should be a starting point.
@Munster1: invest in to inflatable boats? And a few hurleys? We’d be better off investing in to our housing , health system , education system and child care.
@Munster1: How would any of that help us in this situation??
@John Johnes: Agree with you on housing, education and child care. For our health system it’s actually very well funded just badly run. HSE isn’t fit for purpose and needs to be scrapped and a better system put in place.
@Munster1: CyberSecurity is the only one we should be investing in
@Roy Dowling: cant disagree with you here Roy
@Munster1: were a third world country ,,
@Munster1: saying it for years! WE need high altitude interceptors for our Air Corps also
We have no defense systems at all. Any incoming missiles will simply hit it’s targets ( government building’s & airport runways) should!!!! Any country attack us. We may be a neutral country but we’re really sitting ducks!!
@Munster1: we cant afford all that defence malarkey what with all the tax payer funded salaries and multiple pensions we need pay to our politicians. You cant have an effective military and a bloated government you just cant…..
@Brian Kelly: the force Russia is bringing could theoretically take the Aran islands and nothing we could do about it, we would never be able to get it back. Ever. Neutral means nothing. Non aligned means nothing. America, eu and nato wouldn’t raise a finger to help us. Get real there are bullies and thieves in life that will do as they wish. We don’t live in a candy floss, rainbows and unicorn world.
@Richard O Connor: absolutely ridiculous to suggest the EU would do nothing if Russia seized an Irish island.
@John Johnes: it’s not an either / or situation. The biggest priority for all those services you listed should be tackling wastage and massive duplication. Money has been thrown at many of them for years in a hugely inflationary manner for little improvement. At the same time, the State must protect and assert its sovereignty and protect its resources.
@Mill Miller: No we are not.
@Richard O Connor: could you imagine it. The aran island missile crisis
@Eoin Roche: explain what the eu would do besides sanctions? Show me the collective defence treaty?
@Brian Kelly: So we spend millions on high altitude interceptors for our Air Corps….. What then ? It still wouldn’t give us the right to police international waters or dictate to other nations what they can or cannot do there.
Even neutrality needs fire power in order to defend it.
@Mick Tobin: We are not ‘neutral’ we are non-aligned
The missiles they carry are also in range of London and Paris.
Sensationalist reporting…as if it’s all Ireland’s fault. Looks like an article from The Daily Mail.
This is exciting stuff. I’m heading to the southwest with binoculars a few packets of Tayto and cans of Guinness to watch the show……..
@Peter B: Also known as the Irish MRE? ;-)
The neglect of naval and military capabilities is one thing. But surely given our geographical location and the air traffic that passes through Irish territory our radar capabilities should be cutting edge, even as a strategic asset to the EU let alone national interests given we are an island at the most Westerly point of EU to US. Ireland has a number of strategic locations along the West Coast: it would be foolish not to conduct war games along our coast lines given our geographical proximity to US/UK/EU. Its a reaction test. Just like the HSE attack which we failed miserably.
Just wondering Tom, is that the same two fingers that the USA and NATO give Russia, when they place military assets in the countries bordering Russia?
It’s hardly a fair and objective assessment of the current situation, if you act as if the timeline of this finger waving conflict only started with the announcement of these Russian missile testing/wargames and as if the posturing only happens on one side…
Hysteria
We’ll send out the government learjet to monitor the situation..relax folks
Should be met with a wall of EU Ships.
@l: Since when did Ireland or the EU have a say on military exercises in international waters? If EU send ships they’ll be the aggressor as there approaching a foreign military in international waters who have stated months in advance they would be carrying out military tests there. I Don’t like it but nothing we can about it. The authors can mention how much we spend on our defence but it’s irrelevant we could have the US budget and still couldn’t do anything about these tests and we’ve no jurisdiction.
@l: There’s no such thing – who would organise it? The only member state pushing for something like common EU defence is France. There’s really just Nato (and the RAF).
@Roy Dowling: Can’t the EU just use the same excuses that Putin is using for sending hundreds of thousands of troops to the Ukrainian border?
@Football in the Groin: Russian troops are 150kms from the Ukrainian border.
@Roy Dowling: Ah nothing to worry about there so, they’re only extremely close to it, not literally on top of it.
@Roy Dowling: no they’re inside Ukraine have been since 2014 and massed up to 200,000 within 150km now. About 50,000 normally there
@l: no such thing as ‘EU ships’, but there should be and we should be part of a EU defence force
@Football in the Groin: no EU army so no
@Roy Dowling: To be fair, Russia itself is 0km from the Ukrainian border…
They’ll be fine so long as they don’t fish.
What a sad protest in favour of US and NATO International violence…. while slavishly accepting US military pouring through Shannon airport on their way to bring death and destruction to so many parts of the world. His deliberate ignoring of the fears the Russians have as NATO forces itself againt their borders….. the last time the west crossed their border the Russians lost 25,000,000 people and suffered catastrophic devastation….. . Please try to be an advocate for peace ….. even though one might lose all invitations to international armaments shows….
@Fergus Quinlan: Spot on Komrad Peskov!
@Fergus Quinlan: the last time russian troops have crossed their border in 1939, have killed or imprisoned thousands of Poles and with their nazi friends have started ww2 (Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact)
@Fergus Quinlan: I think you are delusional. The Russians have no interest in peace. I don’t think you can describe Nazi Germany as ‘The West’
@Joey Seery: It’s the US that seems to be continuously at war. Russia rarely is. Denial of reality is borderline delusional, but pretending that Germany is not in the West is definitely across that line. The Nazis had the ‘blessing’ of Rome when they came to power, before they started their war; that being the same Rome that split into two administrative empires about 1700 years ago, and from which the terms West and East as we still use them originally came.
It’s very simple. Let Europe and the US deliver what we want, reunification and liberation of our small nation, and I would be prepared for us to participate in an EU only defence cooperation involving radar, cyber, and air and sea defence operating from our bases but,.. only for specified purposes voted by Dáil Éireann, not for third party wars as Shannon is being used for.
Many of our Defence Forces senior personnel got tired of living on peanuts and are now working in Aldi as logistics managers on quite decent packages.
“In recent years, Russian military aircraft have repeatedly incurred into Irish controlled airspace – forcing the RAF to scramble, intercept and shadow these intruders out of EU airspace.”
So the Russians illegally enter Irish airspace and then the RAF take off without our permission and also illegally enter Irish airspace.
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: The RAF have our permission, get your facts right.
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: there is an agreement seemingly between our glorious leaders and UK DOD to monitor our airspace and tend to any unwanted visitors .
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: They have never illegally entered Irish airspace. They flew through Irish controlled airspace.
@Leonard Barry: so what your saying is that RAF jets can enter Irish airspace as they see fit or when the like. We as a country are supposed to be Neutral. I do get that we cooperate with our neighbours and be nice to them.
But our neutrality is quiet important. The UK was annihilated during WW2 along with most of Europe. Ireland was left mostly untouched. We should not let ourselves get dragged into a conflict.
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: Ireland has never been neutral. Even in ww2 we gave the brits weather and intelligence reports. Kept german operatives in jail etc etc.
@andyearley: What are you talking about. It has been Neutral! We may have helped out the British in a couple of areas but we didn’t enter the war on either side. Despite the fact that Churchill and the British threatened to Invade and take control of Ireland if we didn’t do what they wanted. Churchill also offered Northern Ireland to Dev if Ireland joined on the side of the allies. He refused. Being neutral is staying out of conflicts. Since WW2 Irish soldiers have been deployed all over the world with the UN as peacekeepers.
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: We are not ‘neutral’ we are non-aligned
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: yes and stood by while a fascist hoard de estates Europe and murdered millions. We should be so proud
@Ciaran bolger: devastated
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: You can be sure the U.S. and NATO keep tabs on the interior of Russia and China.. Remember the U2 flights ..U.S. caught with their pants down.
@Local Ore: I never said I was an expert, just giving my opinion.
So let me get this right. You’re of the opinion that NATO are entirely right to move closer to Russia’s borders with guns and bombs even though they agreed that they wouldn’t. Playing war games and simulations right on the border. And then fake surprise when Russia does something in response?
Remember the time the Ruskies parked a few bombs in Cuba! The US nearly destroyed the planet. Russia is of no threat to anyone. It all pestering about who’s the BIG DOG in the room. I’ve been to Ukraine and Russia. Really lovely people who don’t want to start a fight with anyone. This kind of reminds me of the build up of armaments that happened before WW1. Look how that turned out!! Germany was the top dog in Europe and the French and the UK wanted to take them down a peg…. millions died while those who started the War were sitting in their big mansions sipping champagne and smoking cigars.
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: Countries next to Russia wanted to join NATO. They have the right as free independent countries. They don’t need Russia’s permission. Russian actions only validate their choice to join NATO.
@Irish_Bond: I’m not saying Russia is right in all this but its messy as hell. Lot of people don’t know that when Germany invaded Poland in WW2. Russia invaded from the other side at the same time. Russia is no angel but China; the UK France and the US have behaved equally as bad. Proxy wars and exploitation the name of the game.
We should be trying to deesculate the situation not amplifying it. All it takes is one mistake and all hell will break loose. The doomsday clock has moved closer to midnight.
@Diarmuid O’Braonáin: read the article. we have a deal with the UK
Like placing chess pieces.
Government should ask for a US / French plus European carriers to protect and join the fishing trawlers and scupper any testing.
Besides the Russians know the Fiber optic communications cable runs through here. Who knows they might sever it costing Europe billions. Oops sorry that was an accident.
Those russians, up to no good as usual.
According to the USA website Ireland has 3 primary radars that also feed to ATC.
https://www.iaa.ie/air-traffic-management/technology/surveillance-radar
@Mike Grimes: sorry, not USA, the IAA.
We might not know what’s going on out there but I don’t believe for one second that the UK doesn’t know what’s coming in our direction. There’s no way they wouldn’t know what’s beyond the Irish Sea before it hits Wales.
All we need is a hurricane or tsunami to sink the russian armada.
Send Lisa Smith to deal with them as her penance
Jesus, they gave away a lot here. Made it too easy!
Not to disagree with the point that Ireland needs to invest in defence, but to play devil’s advocate here.. What have the Russians ever done to us? We don’t have awful relations with Russia unlike most of the EU/US. Even for much of the cold war, Aeroflot landed in Shannon. So, now they are testing some gear outside of our territorial waters, outside even our EEZ as far as can be deduced, in international waters. Why the spreading of FUD?
Taking a step back, it is clear to anyone that NATO has been belligerently surrounding Russia for decades, including militarily occupying former Soviet countries that still have areas with majority Russian population. Have to consider that there’s a more sensible way to get on with Russia in this day and age.. The bellicosity props up the likes of Putin.
Let’s be honest. We could spend all our money on defense and Russia would still kick our a**.
This guy has his own agenda to push and hates the Irish Defence forces
Get the big guns on Spike Island back into action quick lads
@Jim Carolan: They only reached the horizon
Where was all the outrage when the Brits were 35 K off Malin Head! Give it a break. If we were to spend 5% of GDP on Defense it wouldn’t matter. Pure hysteria. What did we do when the Brits sank an Irish fishing vessel? Shot down an Aer Lingus plane? Planted bombs in Dublin/Monaghan? A little perspective please?
as always the comment section is a great insight into the Irish mindset.
Expert in field lays out well reasoned points and we have the habitual “experts” debate it.
What is written in the article is mostly true if not somewhat sensationalist. but thats the nature of conflict. anything could set it off and it needs to be taken seriously. but thankfully MAD and nuclear deterrents mean any war is highly unlikely.
And the idea that its not Ireland’s problem is blatantly false. we are part of the EU. most of the former Soviet bloc are in the EU. ergo its not just NATO that Russia speaks of. they see it as the same thing.
The Government should ask for a US / French plus European carriers to protect and join the fishing trawlers and scupper any testing.
Besides the Russians know the Fiber optic communications cable runs through here. Who knows they might sever it costing Europe billions. Oops sorry that was an accident.
I remember the time of the gulf war, there were comparisons done in one of the newspapers showing the military capacity of the USA, Iraq and Ireland. I remember we had enough ammunition at that time to last something like six minutes
Well done Russia hav a stop off at Shannon
In the famous story, somebody told Stalin that the Pope, leader of 1 billion Catholics, opposed the Soviet Union and its ideology of atheistic communism. Stalin quipped ‘if he opposes me, where are his divisions’?
Tom Clonan is pointing out that in Ireland we are all Pope, no Stalin. We are ‘very concerned’ about Russia military testing near our coast, but we have no primary radar, little investment in cyber security, etc. If we opppose Russian meddling what are we going to do about it? Complain or build our divisions? Where are our divisions?
Apart from maybe the Isle of man invading us with an armada of paddleboards all the money in this country will not protect us from invasion anyone else. Total waste of money.
This situation just highlights what a pathetic, weak state Ireland is when it comes to protecting its own security. The first duty of any government is to protect it’s own citizens and successive Irish governments have failed to do that. Ireland’s defence forces are treated abysmally, underpaid, under equipped and under valued by the population. I mean no offence to the men and women who serve, they do their best and are professional people doing a job that is, frankly a waste of time and effort. The sorry state of IDF is a shameful indictment of the country and how it’s run, politicians are paid obscene salaries and gold plated pensions for doing sweet fa whilst people who are asked to go into harms way are treated like crap. Ireland is the weakest link in Europe’s defence, relying on the RAF for air security, no naval capability, no military radar, no Air Force plane even capable of keeping up with a jetliner, the truth of the matter is that Ireland is a laggard, it has been sponging off the rest of the EU for decades when it comes to defence. Irish troops can’t even be transported without begging other nations for a lift. Smaller, less prosperous countries have better equipped and better paid militaries than Ireland and yet the same old nonsense continues to prevail in Ireland, the “neutrality” mob, the “everybody loves the Irish” mob, the “sure nobody is going to attack us” mob, the “America will come and save us” mob, grow up people, Ireland is responsible for its own security and this Russian intrusion into our EEZ just shows what a weak little country we really are, you know it’s bad when it’s the local fishermen who are planning to go out there and ‘face down” the Russians when the so called navy is tied up for lack of crew! They are either being brave or foolhardy, but make no mistake the Russians won’t think twice about sinking them if they get in their way and all their bravado and no doubt the whining from the Irish government won’t do much good when if these fishermen end up being crushed just like the Chechens or the Georgians were when they got in the way of the Russians. Ireland has been freeloading for too long, it expects to the rest of the EU to back it when it comes to brexit/NI but refuses to spend money on its defence to protect the western flank of the EU, a weakness the Russians have now locked on to and will exploi long into the future. Ireland’s entire “data” driven economy could be destroyed by ripping up the data cables that run right thru the area the Russians have picked to play war games, NATO, the US/UK will no doubt be watching closely what Putin gets up to with an eye on Ukraine meanwhile the Irish government will do as they always do and bury their heads in the sand and expect other countries to fill the gap left by their failure to do the most basic requirement of any government and look after the peace and security of its own people. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of hostile comments coming my way for this telling of some home truths but sometimes the truth hurts. If Ireland is not going to fund its defence forces then what’s the point of having them. Time for the Irish government and people to either put up or shut up. It can’t go on being Europe’s defence spongers and slackers.
@Ed Appleby: There is no ‘gap’ – there is no ‘failure’ we are a non-aligned state – we chose this and it works for us.
Ireland is not freeloading – it contributes massively to UN mandates overseas.
How dare you call your fellow country people spongers and slackers – we dont need your war games and are best to stay away from them.
have your say