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Irish Examiner
19-07-2025
- Politics
- Irish Examiner
Defence Forces experts train Nato militaries to counter homemade bomb threats
Ireland's Defence Forces hosted a Nato workshop this week on countering the threat posed to militaries and civilians from homemade explosives. Bomb experts from Australia and New Zealand joined major Nato countries, such as US, Canada, UK, France, and Germany, at the Ordnance School in the Curragh. A total of 43 participants from 10 countries took part, including Nato partners and non-Nato partners. In a statement, the Defence Forces said the fact that Ireland held the third Nato Home-made Explosives Workshop was 'a positive reflection on the technical expertise of the Ordnance Corp personnel'. It said this corp has performed Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and Counter Improvised Explosive (CIED) tasks during operational deployments. 'This workshop is an opportunity to share knowledge and enhance learning in the area of homemade explosives to meet current and future security challenges that will compliment already existing countermeasures to defeat the asymmetric threat posed by homemade explosives,' it said. The workshop covered the identification and safe disposal of homemade devices and the co-ordination of military and civilian law enforcement agencies, including in the area of counter-terrorism and the protection of troops and civilians. Lieutenant Colonel Conor King General Secretary of RACO, the officers' association, said: 'The Irish Defence Forces Ordnance Corps is internationally renowned as a leader in EOD and CIED, as well as other asymmetric counter measures, from marauding terrorist attack to homemade explosives.' He said the Ordnance School in the Defence Forces Training College has attracted experts from defence, law enforcement, and the scientific community from all over the world for many years. 'The skill sets within the DF Ordnance Corps takes many years of training, education and operational experience to cultivate. We must make every effort to retain these specialists.'
Irish Examiner
04-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Examiner
Letters to the Editor: Ireland cannot spend €25.5bn on defence
Lieutenant Colonel Conor King, general secretary of the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers (Raco), mentions Ireland's low level of defence expenditure ('Ireland's defence spend of 0.2% labelled a 'bad joke', Irish Examiner, June 27). He then mentions Nato's commitment to increase its spending to 5%. While I agree that the Defence Forces are understaffed and their equipment needs upgrading, surely it is he that is joking in thinking Ireland should spend 5% of its GDP on the military. Ireland's GDP in 2023 was €510bn, so 5% of that is €25.5bn. To put it into context, the budget for the health department was €23.4bn. So, people advocating a rise in the defence budget to 5% of GDP want to give more money to a department in charge of approximately 9,500 personnel ahead of a department that oversees about 370,000 people. I have friends in the Defence Forces, so naturally I want them to have the best equipment for the job, but €25.5bn? The next time I meet them in uniform, will they be wearing Gucci combat boots, Ralph Lauren fatigues, and Dolce & Gabbana-inspired helmets? That should go well with their new Louis Vuitton backpacks and custom-designed armoured personnel carriers. This amount would see us outspending the Netherlands and Spain, both of which have far bigger armed forces. It also begs the question of who we are defending ourselves against. No doubt the usual refrain will be the big bad Russians. They are the go-to bad guys that are invoked by every military leader and spokesperson in Europe in their frantic quest to get shiny new weaponry. The fact is that Russia is a little busy right now, and I cannot see them attacking us anytime now or in the future. We do need to upgrade our air, sea, and radar systems, as we have such a large sea and air area to monitor, especially when it comes to drugs and smuggling. We need to invest in services to make the forces more attractive for the 4,000 recruits we need to meet basic requirements. After years of underinvestment, I understand the need to make some one-off investments to cover capital costs, but surely not to the extent of 5% of GDP. Ireland is in a fairly good position economically, but we can't go losing our heads when it comes to managing budgets. You only have to look at the absolutely scandalous mismanagement of the National Children's Hospital building to realise that things can get out of hand very quickly. Let's invest in our defence forces, but let's do it sensibly and based on our needs and not on some arbitrary figure made up by Donald Trump. Brian Ward, Skibbereen, Co Cork Parents supporting trans and non-binary children We would like to thank Dáithí Ó Sé for his recent column — 'I'm struggling with my teen coming out as non-binary' (Irish Examiner, June 30). We formed Mammies for Trans Rights when a few of us got together to talk about how we could best support our trans and non-binary kids. We are not experts, just concerned parents and allies who want to love and protect our children in what can be a difficult time in their lives, especially in what has rapidly become more frightening atmosphere for anyone who challenges traditional ideas of sexuality or gender. We tell everyone who contacts us that the first and best source of information and support is Teni or BelongTo, and then we invite anyone who would like to join us as we march in Pride events across the country each summer. We want kids and parents to see that there's far more of us who love our kids than there is of people spreading fear and division. And we want to remind people that love always wins Mammies for Trans Rights, via email What's your view on this issue? You can tell us here Séamas O'Reilly signs off on a positive note How fitting that Séamas O'Reilly's last column in your newspaper after three years mentions the extraordinary success of a virtual unknown in the race for mayor of New York ('Democratic primary win offers small, life-giving crumb of hope to politics' Irish Examiner, Weekend, June 28). If someone told me a week ago that a 33-year-old Muslim running a pro-Palestinian, anti-Zionist campaign in the biggest city in the United States that has the largest Jewish population outside of Israel, would comprehensively defeat someone like Andrew Cuomo in the mayoral primary, I would have quickly turned the page. But Zohran Mamdani is no ordinary assemblyman. He clearly has touched a nerve with large swathes of New Yorkers who increasingly are being priced out of living in one of the wealthiest cities in the world. His economic policies of free buses, free childcare, and publicly owned grocery stores have shaken the political establishment appealing in particular to young people. Key to his success are core, endlessly repeated commitments focused on a cost of living crisis triggered by a broken economic system. Is it any wonder that the Democrat elites are shaking in their boots and are now pinning their hopes on the unpopular incumbent Eric Adams running as an independent to defeat the Uganda-born Queens new kid on the block in November's election decider. Fair play to Séamas O'Reilly signing off on a positive note. Remember the name Zohran Mamdani, as we are going to hear a lot more about him and his democratic socialist policies. Tom McElligott, Listowel, Co Kerry Labelling for ethical choices for animal welfare Switzerland introduced new labelling on meat and dairy products on Tuesday, July 1. The terms 'beef' or 'pork' will no longer suffice; food labels are now required to disclose if the animals underwent procedures such as castration, dehorning , teeth clipping, tail docking, beak trimming, or force feeding — the list is endless — without pain relief. This labelling will not just apply to meat products but will include milk and eggs and will extend to all points of sale and to imports. This initiative is to encourage consumers to make more ethical choices and presumably to improve welfare standards for animals. As far back as the 18th century the English philosopher Jeremy Bantham asked the following regarding animals: 'The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?' A mere two centuries after he asked the question, animals continue to suffer. Sadly today many animals spend their short miserable lives in windowless sheds, pumped full of antibiotics, suffering a great deal more than their predecessors in the 18th century. I welcome this initiative by the Swiss government and hope it will soon be obligatory for other EU states to follow suit. Joan Burgess, Annmount, Cork What's your view on this issue? You can tell us here Government must help squeezed middle Regarding Sean Murray's article — 'Fueling frustration: Why Irish petrol prices stay high, even when oil doesn't' (Irish Examiner, online, June 28). I drive to work every day, which is a round trip of about 60km. It costs me around €70 a week, which is about 20% of my income and as I am one of the squeezed middle earners it's really hard. There is no public transport for the time I need to go to work. With the cost of living so high everything is getting harder. I just hope I don't get sick — I just couldn't afford to go to the doctor. My savings have been eroded as we have to pay for everything and we're entitled to nothing. The Government really needs to address this urgently with tax breaks; we are becoming the hidden working poor. Noreen Moloney, Hospital, Co Limerick Combatting the loneliness of teenage girls According to a new study from the World Health Organization (WHO) teenage girls are the loneliest group in the world. While adult men and women both report similar levels of loneliness, nearly a quarter of teenage girls say they are lonely. This is compared to only 17% of teenage boys. Loneliness is a lack or a loss of meaningful social connection and all humans are natural social creatures. We need that social connection from the moment we are born. The most important thing for an infant is skin to skin contact with the parent and social interaction and then friendship builds from that. As a clinician, I would note that many teenage girls are particularly vulnerable to low self-esteem along with increased challenges when it comes to their mental health. It's my contention that teenage girls might be more vulnerable when compared to boys. We do know that there is a drop off in teenage girls being involved in any sort of structured activity. There is a disproportionate drop off in engagement in sports compared to boys at that age. There is an increased use of online social media at home which doesn't always promote a good positive self image. If parents were to put their phones away and develop the art of conversing with their teenage daughters, the positive difference in their teenage girls mental wellbeing would be palpable. Parents displaying an interest in their daughters can be an uplifting feeing for teenage girls. It's important that parents show that they are there for their teenage daughters. Parents must strive to keep their teenage girls involved in activities where they meet and interact with other young people of their own age. It's important that we all mind and nurture one another. John O'Brien, Clonmel, Co Tipperary
