Aryzta targets up to €60m in cost cuts to boost margins over three years
Aryzta, the Swiss-Irish maker of par-baked pastries and breads, said it plans to find as much as €60 million of gross savings over the next three years in order to boost its earnings margins as its revenues at a faster rate than the wider baked goods market.
The company behind the Cuisine de France brand in Ireland will likely have to spend €20 million-€30 million on further upgrading its IT infrastructure in order to deliver some €40 million-€60 million of gross cost cuts, it said on Wednesday as it announced new medium targets. This would result in net savings of €20 million-€20 million.
It aims to improve its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) margin to more than 15 per cent over the three years, compared to 14.6 per cent last year.
Aryzta said that it aims to further reduce its debt over the period, including the redemption of its final €155 million of hybrid debt-equity instruments, in order to return to paying dividends for the first time since 2017. It aims to reduce its net debt to 1.5-2 times Ebita from a ratio of 2.8 last year, but also look at bolt-on merger and acquisition opportunities in core markets – which span Europe to southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand
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'Aryzta's mid-term targets reflect our strategy to focus on innovation-led organic growth and premiumisation, continuous business process improvements and a comprehensive cost discipline program,' said Aryzta's new chief executive, Michael Schai, who took on the role in January.
'Our strategy is targeting to generate sufficient cash to further reduce debt levels, invest in innovation and return capital to shareholders. We envisage further improvements across all our financial metrics over our new plan. It also reflect our aim to be well positioned in our key markets and have sufficient financial strength to control our own destiny given the consolidation taking place in the bake-off sector.'
The company, which was formed in 2008 through the merger of Dublin-based IAWS and Swiss baking group Hiestand, saw its centre of gravity move from Dublin to Zurich in late 2020 under a boardroom coup in 2020, following years of weak performance following a series of debt-fuelled deals.
The company has been through major restructuring since then, including the sale of a troubled North American business and its Brazilian unit, debt reduction and a refocusing on product innovation.
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Irish Times
10 hours ago
- Irish Times
First look: New food market gathers the best of global street food vendors in one place
Inside Priory Market in Tallaght , with no rent, low risk, and serious talent, immigrant chefs are finally getting the backing they deserve. 'I am who I am because I came from Tallaght,' says Anna Haugh , the chef-owner of Myrtle restaurant and The Wee Sister wine bar in London, currently fronting Anna Haugh's Big Irish Food Tour TV show on BBC One. She's back in Ireland next month to launch something Tallaght has never had – a food hall, brewery and roastery all under one roof, run as a social enterprise supporting immigrant communities. For Haugh it's more than a launch – it's personal. 'It's really important to me that we bring fresh energy to Tallaght – businesses, food, culture – all of it,' she says. 'People often focus on the negative. This is something positive. It's great for the newer communities, too – people who didn't live here when I was growing up in Old Bawn.' For migrant-led and small food businesses, it's the hardest thing to find: a foothold. At Priory Market, which opens to the public on Friday, June 20th, there's no rent, no fitout, just 15 per cent of turnover for access to a unit, utilities and footfall. The project is backed by the Immigrant Investor Programme (now closed). Some €3.6 million was raised from nine Chinese investors; Partas – a long-standing social enterprise based in Tallaght – contributed €400,000 more. READ MORE The model is designed for sustainability, in every sense. It's not just a local experiment – it could be a blueprint for other cities. Profits are reinvested into local jobs, training and community programmes. 'We're not a landlord,' says John Kearns, chief executive of Partas. 'We're a support structure. We don't want to trap people – we want them to grow and move on, if that's their goal. Tenants don't need capital to renovate or fit out kitchens. If someone wants to trial something – or scale it – this is where they can do it.' Haugh is particularly energised by what the market offers to immigrant communities – both those new to Tallaght and those raising Irish-born children. 'I see these kids who look totally different to me, but sound exactly like I did at their age. They're Irish. And it's beautiful to see their parents' cultures being shared – through food, especially.' Anna Haugh of Myrtle. Photograph: Andrew Ogilvy For her, food is more than sustenance; it's a way to build a life. 'Learning about food and cuisine is an important part of cultural exchange. It's how we understand each other. That's what makes Priory Market so exciting – it's not just a business space. It's a way for people to connect, to start small, and to be seen,' she says. 'Hospitality is one of those rare jobs where you can learn a proper skill, and use it to work for someone – or start something yourself, even from your house. It doesn't have to be big jumps or investors. Just doing something you believe in. You can build from that. Maybe even an empire.' Priory Market takes its name from the nearby St Mary's Priory, one of the most significant early monastic settlements in Ireland. Though the market isn't on the original site, it sits just around the corner from the St Mary's ruins – a Church of Ireland site that includes remnants of the original monastery, The Pale wall, and the site of a Fenian uprising. Plans are in place to introduce a walking tour linking the market to these historic landmarks. The vendors at Priory Market have been carefully selected – most are family-run – and together span a wide range of cuisines. These include Delhi2Dublin's handmade Indian dishes, Afro-Caribbean flavours from Bless Up, and Venezuelan street food from Flavouritos. Seoul Kitchen brings Korean classics, while El Milagro serves Mexican dishes from a mother-and-son team. Zaira focuses on Lebanese cooking with Brazilian roots, there is fresh pasta from Buongusto , Mama's Boy serves Vietnamese banh mi; and Hell Fire Grill centres on fire-cooked meats and plant-based options. Tallaght local, Warren Mahon, offers Asian street food with bold, balanced flavours at Park 27. Coke Lane Pizza – located beside the on-site brewery – rounds out the line-up with wood-fired pizza. Cochinita pibil tacos from Maribel Pascual and Julian Trejo of El Milagro Patrizio Di Pietrantonio and Andree Danalache with tagliatelle and meatballs at Buongusto Warren Mahon of Park 27 with khao soi gai - coconut curry broth served on egg noodles with chicken coriander lime, shallots and chilli oil Ricardo Solis, head brewer at the Priory Market Everything at Priory Market must be 100 per cent compostable – packaging is preapproved, and compost bins are placed throughout, with signage to guide proper disposal. 'If everything's compostable, it's easier in the long run – once you get used to it,' says Kearns. 'The goal is to streamline waste, with future plans to mulch on-site and eventually grow herbs and plants using the compost.' The space itself is a blend of the reclaimed and the purpose-built – salvaged lights, Clancy Barracks bomb doors, and seating designed for flow and comfort. There's a conservatory-style patio, a visible coffee roastery above, and views through to the brewery and wine bar. The market includes co-working kitchens, a private speakeasy room, and a demo/events space upstairs. It's designed as a stepping stone between food trucks and full restaurants – a place for emerging chefs to test, scale, and grow with real support. Three of the first vendors at Priory Market, Bless Up, Delhi2Dublin and Flavouritos, each represent a different background, a different culture – and a shared ambition: to build something new, on their own terms. Femi and Margaret Abonde are the husband and wife team behind Bless Up, a modern African-Caribbean food business that first opened in Tallaght's Belgard Square. Their original restaurant gained a loyal following for its bold, home-style cooking – but despite strong demand, the scale and cost of running a full restaurant proved unsustainable. 'It was just taking too much from both of us,' says Femi, who has worked in the hospitality industry for nearly two decades. The pair handed the unit over without financial loss and rethought their business model. Now they're relaunching Bless Up at the market, in a format that's leaner, sharper and more sustainable. Femi Abonde of Bless Up 'It's the cheapest place to trade,' says Femi. 'You don't have to worry about renovations, maintenance, or heavy overheads. It lets you just focus on the food.' The couple have refined and streamlined their original menu. They're serving modern takes on traditional west African and Caribbean dishes – jollof rice with boneless chicken, jerk chicken and rice, shawarma-style wraps with African spices, and their signature Blessed Burger made with marinated, 100 per cent chicken thigh. Spice levels are customisable, and everything is made in-house. 'It's a low-cost way of doing food,' says Femi. 'We're using proper equipment, keeping everything in-house, locking in flavour – but without the stress and cost of a full restaurant.' Beyond the food, they value the collaborative atmosphere Priory Market is creating. 'There's this family feel,' says Margaret. 'Everyone's sharing ideas, helping each other out. We're all here for the same reason – to get our food out there and let people experience what we grew up with.' Another new tenant is Delhi2Dublin – a family business that's making the leap from weekend markets to a permanent home. Mum, Chandra Shukla, is in the kitchen, her daughter, Aanchal, runs the business, and her son, Ardash, a software engineer, chips in between writing code. They've been doing the rounds: Temple Bar, Moore Street, Merrion Square – hauling gear and prepping from scratch each time, but Priory Market will be their first long-term base. 'Markets are intense,' says Anchal. 'You're setting up gazebos, prepping food, lugging equipment – sometimes for just a two-hour lunch rush. It's a lot. And it's always just been the three of us.' Staff at the Priory Market The logistics were punishing – everything had to be cooked offsite and carted in. Rain could wipe out footfall. Generators failed. Storage was limited. Each day was a gamble. Now, for the first time, they have a kitchen of their own – a fixed unit, open seven days a week. 'This is the first time we're hiring staff. Finally, we have space to breathe,' she says. 'We can focus on what we actually want to do: the food.' And the food is serious. Their menu draws on Chandra's Punjabi-Delhi heritage but stretches across India – from Mumbai street snacks to Himalayan-style momos. There are samosas served with home-made coriander and tamarind chutneys; vada pav, a spiced potato burger from Maharashtra; panipuri, the crisp, liquid-filled snack beloved on TikTok; and momo dumplings that are hand-folded and steamed or fried to order. Their mains include rich curry bowls with meat and vegan options, and on some days, Chandra's signature parathas. 'The parathas were our first big hit,' says Ardash. 'Those are Mum's special. When she's in the kitchen, they're on. She rolls them by hand, fills them, fries them fresh – and it brings people straight back to childhood. We've had Indian students video-calling their mothers from the stall, saying 'Look! Real food!'' They've refined their offering down to 13 items – a challenge in itself for a cuisine known for range. They're careful to strike a balance: traditional enough to hit home with Indian customers (who they say are the toughest critics), but accessible for Irish diners who might be wary of spice. 'Irish customers are asking us for extra fried chillies now,' laughs Ardash. 'Two years ago, they'd ask, 'Is this very spicy?' Now they're like, 'Make it hotter.'' Marian Garcia of Flavouritos with pastelitos (crispy pockets filled with Irish potatoes and cheese); and tequeños (cheese fingers with a sweet twist) Across the way from them is Flavouritos – bringing something totally different to the mix, and something that's just as rooted in family. Marian Garcia Vivolo, the chef behind Flavouritos, is originally from Venezuela and has lived in Ireland for six years. She started out doing catering and food development with her sister, but now, her focus is on bringing bold, flavour-rich Latin American street food to Dublin. Garcia Vivolo has traded before, but Priory Market is her first kitchen with four walls and a steady crowd. Her food is rooted in Venezuelan tradition, but it's been carefully reworked to suit Irish palates. This is intentional – what Garcia Vivolo calls a kind of 'Lat-Irish' cuisine. 'I'm not copying the exact dishes from home – I'm adapting them. It's really difficult to imitate my flavours because we use tiny peppers that only grow in that part of Venezuela, and condiments that you can only get there. I want to elevate Latin flavours with what's available here. Everything I serve is made with locally sourced Irish ingredients.' The menu at Flavouritos is compact but punchy. Snacks like tequeños and pasteles – crisp, hand-held, and deeply savoury – are perfect as finger food, loaded with flavour, not heat. 'We're not spicy. We're just full of flavour – garlic, herbs, onions, tomatoes, peppers. Nothing overwhelming, just really tasty,' says Garcia Vivolo. The main event, though, is the arepa – a traditional Venezuelan and Colombian dish made with corn dough. Naturally gluten-free, arepas are like a hand-held, stuffed flatbread, and Garcia Vivolo is using them to showcase a wide range of fillings. There are five options: one vegan, one vegetarian, and three meat-based (chicken, pork, and beef), all seasoned with her signature Venezuelan-Latin style. She also makes her own sauces: garlic mayo, chipotle mayo, and salsas to match. 'It's food that feels different – familiar but new. I want people to try it and say, 'I've never had this before, but I like it.' That's the goal.' What makes Priory Market different, she says, is the space and the support. For the first time, she can cook and serve hot food straight to the public – and stay open every day. 'This is exposure – finally. It's a chance to show what Latin American food can be here, on our terms, with real flavour and real heart. I'm putting it on the map. This is just the beginning.' Priory Market in Tallaght will be open to the public seven days a week from Friday, June 20th, 11am-11pm, with a coffee shop from 8am.
Irish Times
11 hours ago
- Irish Times
Everyone's friend: How Mongolia stays on good terms with Russia, China and western powers
The first luxury hotel to be built in Mongolia and once the only one with a constant supply of hot running water, the Ulaanbaatar Hotel is now something of a curiosity of Soviet-era architecture. But for a couple of decades after it opened in 1961, this monumental building with its broad, 17-bay facade, was a rare, cosmopolitan venue in a remote, landlocked country under communism. 'The world was divided, uncertain, and even on the brink of war. During this time, the Ulaanbaatar Hotel was a home for many foreign diplomats and curious international journalists,' said Mendee Jargalsaikhan, director of Mongolia's Institute for Strategic Studies. He was speaking in the hotel at the start of the 10th Ulaanbaatar Dialogue on Northeast Asian Security, an annual conference that brings together diplomats, security experts and academics from across the region and around the world. Last week's conference featured speakers from China , Russia , Japan and South Korea , along with the United States , Canada , Australia and a number of central Asian republics. North Korea sent representatives every year until the coronavirus pandemic and they have yet to return. But Mongolia, which was among the first countries to recognise the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), has good relations with Pyongyang and the organisers hope the North Koreans will return. READ MORE After 70 years as a communist state with close economic, diplomatic and military ties to the Soviet Union, Mongolia became a liberal, parliamentary democracy after 1990. It normalised relations with China, established links with the US and the European Union and joined the Non-Aligned Movement. Russian president Vladimir Putin in Ulaanbaatar last year. Photograph: Byambasuren Byamba-Ochir/AFP via Getty Images David Curtis Wright, a history professor at the University of Calgary, said Mongolia succeeded where Canada failed in the 1980s and 1990s in its aspiration to become everyone's friend. It has good relations with all of the six other states with stakes in northeast Asian security. 'Mongolia understands continental northeast Asian security concerns better than Japan, South Korea or the United States, and Mongolia also understands Japanese, South Korean and American security concerns better than Russia, China and the DPRK,' he said. 'Mongolia understands that war in northeast Asia would involve four nuclear states – the United States, Russia, China and the DPRK – and two other heavily armed states, Japan and South Korea, and the possible results are unthinkable. In addition, embroiling the world's three largest economies, the United States, China and Japan in a war in northeast Asia would be utterly catastrophic for the world's economy.' [ The New Nuclear Age by Ankit Panda: Could 'growing loose talk' lead to the ultimate disaster? Opens in new window ] Mongolia's constitution prohibits foreign militaries from transiting through its territory or basing forces there and the country has declared itself a nuclear weapons-free zone. This has not stopped its troops from serving in support of the US in Iraq, Kosovo and Afghanistan but Mongolia's forces are better known for their service on United Nations peacekeeping missions. Northeast Asia has no military alliance similar to Nato and Mongolia faces a formidable challenge as it tries to manoeuvre between Russia, China and the western powers without compromising its sovereignty or democratic governance. Without the financial resources to build defence capabilities like Singapore or Switzerland, Mongolia has to engage in 'soft balancing' using diplomatic means. [ Inside Politics Podcast: Denis Staunton on Trump's return, China's rise and the shifting global order Opens in new window ] Its policy is modelled on that of Finland during the cold war, so that it avoids joining security alliances with the great powers and abstains from taking a stance on controversial matters. Like Finland in the late 20th century, Mongolia today presents itself as a neutral place for the great powers to negotiate. Yoko Iwama, a professor of international relations at Japan's National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, told the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue that the waning of American hard and soft power presented challenges for northeast Asia. The advanced, affluent societies across the region had to think about how to avoid a war that would be too destructive for any of them to accept. 'This is somewhat similar to the 1970s in cold war Europe. Both the US and the USSR were facing multiple difficulties, and therefore wanted a relaxation of tensions. They also needed mechanisms and institutions to run this process, since the build-up of nuclear weapons had made war simply suicidal for both sides, a series of dialogues between East and West,' she said. 'We need a similar process in Asia. We need management of nuclear weapons between the nuclear powers, which are actually much more diverse today than in Europe in those days. Although the total number of warheads is a lower today than during the cold war, that does not make these weapons less destructive.' Chinese vice-president Han Zheng with his Mongolian counterpart Ukhnaagiin Khurelsukh in Ulaanbaatar last year. Photograph: Byambasuren Byamba-Ochir/AFP via Getty Images The shift in US foreign policy since Donald Trump 's return to the White House has unnerved some of Washington's allies, particularly in Europe. But for Kirill Babaev from the Russian Academy of Sciences, it is one of a number of positive changes in the international environment. He said there were signs that the lowest point in opposition between the great powers had passed and de-escalation was now under way, with the US and Russia talking on the phone at least once a week and Washington and Beijing sitting down to discuss their trade relationship. He noted that Japan and South Korea's trade ministers had met their Chinese counterpart to find common ground and both Seoul and Tokyo were considering easing sanctions against Russia. 'The second trend is definitely that the Global South is raising its voice because it also needs a place at this table of negotiations,' he said. 'I think for the first time in centuries, we see the situation where the Asian countries, the regional players, are becoming strong enough to become part of global policy, and that countries like China, India, the Middle Eastern countries, countries of Africa and Latin America would like to play a more vital part in global politics and the global economy. This, I think, creates a totally new world for us, a world that we have never known before, a world which will be free of so-called European, or if we call it white, domination in world politics or economics.' Babaev said that the three major nuclear powers – the United States, Russia and China – now recognised these major trends in global affairs and that western domination was coming to an end. They would have to compromise to achieve a more stable system of global governance and he suggested that Washington, Moscow and Beijing could become the cornerstones of the new system. 'These will not be the only participants of the process, but without any of the three largest nuclear powers ... it will not be possible. We should definitely include also the regional powers, those who are now increasing their role in the world economy, including countries of south Asia, southeast Asia, Middle East and Latin America,' he said. 'I think probably it will be a good idea to revive the Security Council of the United Nations, which is actually a stalemate at the moment, just because the great powers cannot agree. But in case a compromise will be found between the three key players, United States, Russia, and China, then I think the regional partners will also follow, and we will revive the system of international governance, which will last for another five decades or something like that. 'I think we need an overall security guarantee agreement, which will look like probably something between Yalta 1945 or Helsinki 1975, or probably something new, but in any case will guarantee that the national interests will be secured and respected for all countries, either big or small.' Babaev's proposal outraged some European participants, who noticed that Europe was the only region he did not mention as having any role in shaping the new global system. He later criticised the EU for failing to offer any constructive proposals for peace in Ukraine and wanting to prolong the war there. Zhuo Zihan from China's Fudan University struck a more cautious note, asserting Beijing's opposition to the idea of spheres of influence or a carve-up between the great powers. And he was more pessimistic about the prospects of an early improvement in relations between the US and China. 'Let's be candid. We recognise the structural nature of this rivalry. But we are concerned by a tendency in some American political circles to treat China not as a peer to be engaged, but as a threat to be contained. This really has profound implications for our region. [ Who gains from Mongolian prime minister's downfall? Opens in new window ] 'US strategy documents increasingly define China not as a strategic partner to manage peacefully, but as a systemic rival. This kind of thinking presses regional actors to choose sides. It stokes arms races, and undermines the co-operative spirit,' he said. 'China does not seek hegemony, either in Asia or anywhere else. We are not believers in exclusive spheres of influence. We believe each country, including Mongolia, the Koreas and Japan has a right to chart its own course in peace on an equal footing with sovereignty and dignity.' Jenny Town, a senior fellow at the Stimson Centre in Washington, said that intensifying big power competition, the hardening of adversarial security alignments and rapidly growing defence budgets in northeast Asia reflected attempts to mitigate security dilemmas but also exacerbated them. A northern triangle of Russia, China and North Korea appeared to be pitted against the southern triangle of Japan, South Korea and the United States. Smog settles over the Mongolian capital every winter. Photograph: Jade Gao/AFP via Getty Images) But she suggested that Trump's return to the White House and the election in South Korea of Lee Jae-myung , a foreign policy pragmatist, could make a difference. 'The changes in leadership, especially in the United States and South Korea, pose an international opportunity,' she said. [ From Mongolia to Dublin: 'Coming to Ireland was a blessing. It was a great move for my life, I have no regrets' Opens in new window ] 'Each country has ample agency to redefine both the extent and the limits of co-operation in the region, both within the alliance structure as well as across adversarial ideological alliances. So while both Washington and the newly elected government in Seoul have pledged the continuous strengthening of alliance co-operation, both bilateral and multilateral, and to bolster readiness against the threats, there's a degree of uncertainty about the sustainability of such co-operation.' Over two days, participants in the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue discussed security challenges and multilateral co-operation in northeast Asia, co-operation with central Asia, climate change and energy resilience. Mongolia will host the Cop17 climate talks in 2026 and the country has suffered an increasing number of severe weather events linked to climate change. Khishigjargal Enkhbayar, co-founder of the United Nations Association of Mongolia, said that young people across northeast Asia understood the need to work together to address climate change and energy resilience. This was true of all the region's challenges. 'Consensus in our region will not come very easily, especially as we lack a multilateral mechanism for co-operation,' she said. 'And yet this region, home to two nuclear states and a quarter of the world's GDP, cannot afford continued fragmentation. I think this was very much echoed throughout the Ulaanbaatar Dialogue conference. Our futures are very deeply intertwined, and whether we acknowledge it or not.'
Irish Times
14 hours ago
- Irish Times
Ireland will have to commit substantial funds to arms procurement whether it approves or not
All they talk about in Brussels these days is defence. And with a sense of urgency and common political will that is a product of real fear that the EU itself is existentially threatened . A fear that the threats from Russia to Ukraine – regarded, as one senior European Commission official put it, as a 'de facto member state' – and Vladimir Putin 's wider ambitions against former Soviet states now part of the union are serious. And that the US can no longer be relied on for military support or even nuclear deterrence. The talk is all of meeting new Nato targets of raising defence spending to between three and five per cent of GDP. Russia, member states are warned, has been massively expanding its military-industrial production capacity with an estimated spending in 2024 of 40 per cent of the federal budget and up to 9 per cent of its GDP (up from 6 per cent in 2023) on defence, a commitment only possible in an autocratic state impervious to public sentiment. Ireland, despite its new commitment to bolster its army, remains the poorest performer in the EU class at 0.5 per cent this year. Member states' defence spending has grown by more than 31 per cent since 2021, reaching 1.9 per cent of the EU's combined GDP or €326bn in 2024, almost double the amount spent in 2021. Not enough, however; now a target of €800 billion in the next few years is being discussed. A measure of how seriously the debate is being taken has been the union's willingness with unprecedented speed to raise its sacrosanct fiscal rules, allowing member states to break debt limits to expand their military spending . READ MORE The thrust is now being driven by the EU White Paper on Defence Preparedness 2025, published recently. It was the subject of a well-attended debate this week in the Institute for International and European Affairs, which turned inevitably to the issue of Ireland's own national preparedness and its role next year in steering the EU presidency discussions. Centre stage will be the roll-out of the white paper proposals to revitalise states' military capacity and transform national defence industries to break reliance on foreign, notably US, imported weapons. A new defence financing initiative, Safe, will see the European Investment Bank raise €150 billion to lend to the private sector on condition 65 per cent of loans are for European-produced weapons. Ireland is not planning to dip into the fund, but Minister of State for Defence Thomas Byrne told the meeting that, in the spirit of 'principles-based pragmatism', we might yet do so. Ireland will also have charge of brokering a deal on the next seven-year budget (the Multiannual Financial Framework, or MFF). The process always severely stretches member-state solidarity and will particularly test them this time, with a huge increase in collective defence spending being proposed. That, at a time when all are cash-strapped, will require a massive breach of the one per cent of EU GDP budget spending ceiling, or as Prof Brigid Laffan warned, 'tough trade-offs' on long-standing policy areas. Like agriculture. Ireland cannot stand on the sidelines. It will necessarily have to commit substantial funds to arms procurement as a net contributor to the MFF, like all others, whether or not it approves. [ Parlous state of Defence Forces once again laid bare Opens in new window ] The EU white paper bears a remarkable resemblance in its scope and thrust to the paper produced in Ireland in 2022 by the Commission on the Defence Forces and which prompted our own commitment to major upgrading of the Defence Forces. The white paper, the EU Commission's senior defence official, Guilaume de la Brosse, insists, is not about redefining EU defence policy 'but about the specificities of member states, serving national agendas', and both starting a discussion about preparedness and capabilities and pointing to a way in which the needs may be addressed more efficiently, collectively and individually. The white paper projects are all 'voluntary'. Like the Irish commission's silence on neutrality's merits, it is not saying European collective defence must take a particular form, but that if you want a capability to deter aggression then this is how to do it – and it is best done collectively, ensuring interoperability and as little duplication as possible. [ Poll shows Ireland's attachment to neutrality is strong but nuanced Opens in new window ] Critical to getting both imperatives through will be important changes in the nature of defence discussions throughout the EU – not least in Ireland, where the debate has largely been confined to political and policy circles. Both the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste have engaged strongly, echoing common EU-wide concerns, but public opinion remains largely indifferent, albeit clinging to vague, often contradictory notions of 'neutrality'. There is often an unwillingness to acknowledge the need to upgrade our defensive capacity or even a need for it. A fundamental challenge remains a public unwillingness to perceive real new vulnerabilities or threats to ourselves – like to our vital undersea cable networks or to cyber attacks, or threats to the territorial integrity of our European partners – as urgent and requiring radical action. Although sympathetic to their plight, and generously receptive of refugees, Irish voters have yet to recognise that their problem is our problem, a real threat to our union, and to develop a real sense of obligation to fellow members of the union arising from our membership of this huge 'peace project'. From a narrow national perspective, as Minister Byrne acknowledged, 'working together is the only way forward'. This debate urgently needs to expand beyond Dáil Éireann's narrow confines.
