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BreakingNews.ie
3 days ago
- Business
- BreakingNews.ie
Ireland's subsea cables and gas pipelines 'very vulnerable' amid 'non-existent maritime security'
Ireland's critical subsea infrastructure is extremely vulnerable due to the under-resourcing of the Defence Forces and Irish Navy , a former TD and deputy commander of the Army Ranger Wing has warned. Ireland's maritime footprint is seven times the country's land area and is home to the majority of transatlantic data communications . Advertisement For example, the AEC-1 cable connects New York with Ireland, landing at Killala, Co Mayo. It is 5,534 km long and has been operating since 2016. The system primarily serves telecommunications providers, cloud service providers, content delivery networks, and enterprises that require efficient data transport solutions. These undersea cables are crucial to various aspects of daily life, including cloud storage and banking systems. Around three-quarters of Ireland's national gas is also imported via undersea pipelines. Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris has said he expects contract negotiations for the supply of advanced sonar technology to conclude within a number of months. However, the first sonar systems are not expected to be operational until July 2027, meaning Ireland is largely dependent on foreign navies to detect threats. In an interview with , former TD and soldier Cathal Berry said Ireland's undersea cables and gas pipelines are "very vulnerable". Advertisement "All our data centres, all our video footage of our families, our photographs are stored in data centres, not on our phones. We're hugely vulnerable because the umbilical cords between Europe and North America are very vulnerable." "There are about a dozen data cables coming into Ireland. More importantly, we have two gas pipelines coming in from Scotland, which are even more strategically crucial because Ireland has no natural gas." "We're the only EU country without any natural gas reserve. If those two gas pipelines across the Irish Sea were taken out, there would be about eight hours of gas left in the pipes." "About 15 per cent of our supply comes from the Corrib gas field, but that reservoir is drying up too. We also have two electricity interconnectors with the UK, which are important because we need them to balance out the grid." Advertisement "Our critical subsea infrastructure is very vulnerable and exposed, and we're very vulnerable and exposed because we're an island nation and we depend on it." He pointed to the lack of resources available to the Irish Naval Service, which he believes is at its lowest ebb since it was established in 1946. "These energy and data sources come in via the ocean. Unfortunately, our navy is at its lowest ebb — it's never been as poorly resourced." "Twenty-five years ago, when Ireland was a much poorer country, we could land a helicopter on an Irish Navy vessel. Now, we have no maritime helicopter capability and no naval vessel with a helipad." Advertisement "Fifteen years ago, we could put eight ships out to sea. Now, we can barely put out two. We have no permanent presence at sea. That is why drug cartels are taking full advantage — people trafficking, fugitives, guns, any kind of contraband you want. It's open season in Ireland because we have no sovereign force operating at sea." "We really are the weakest link. We're a major hub in international drug trafficking, particularly narcotics coming from South America into Europe. And drugs, like water, will always travel to the point of least resistance. That's why there's a lot of this activity off our coast." Mr Berry added: "If Russia or any country wanted to squeeze America and Europe, they would begin here. We have no Article 5 protection from NATO, and we have a policy of neutrality, but we haven't resourced that policy. It's like having a health or housing policy — if you don't resource it, it won't work." "The big concern is that we will wake up some morning and some of this critical infrastructure has been sabotaged or interfered with. Then there will be a lot of hand-wringing, reports, commissions of inquiry." Advertisement Mr Berry spent 23 years in the Defence Forces. During this time, he spent six years in the Army Ranger Wing (ARW) and served overseas in the Balkans, Africa, and the Middle East. In 2008, he led an ARW company in Chad. 'Decades of neglect' He said "decades of neglect" have led to the recruitment and retention crisis in the Defence Forces. "It's been decades of neglect and indifference, and this is where we are as a result. To be there is definitely a different attitude among Irish ministers who have travelled to Europe in the last five years in particular, they realise the concern Europe has for Ireland. "It's similar to the banking crisis when Europe was telling us 'you're accumulating this massive risk in the banking sector'. Ireland was laughing saying 'we've conquered economics, you're just jealous', then the banking crisis and housing crisis hit. "Our security crisis is no less concerning and it could also end with a catastrophe. "Ireland asked the international community to recognise it over 100 years ago, with that right comes the responsibility to police your own seas and waters." He said the problems facing the Air Corps should be another worry when it comes to the State's security and defence. "What's happening in the Air Corps at the moment, it looks like the maritime patrol squadron will have to relocate to Shannon Airport because the air traffic control tower in Baldonnel is office hours only. "That is saying the maritime squadron and patrolling our territorial waters is not a national priority. "When we were a poorer country we did man Baldonnel properly and we did recognise that there was a need for a properly functioning Air Corps. Up until 1998 we had subsonic jet interceptors, every year it is death by a thousand cuts. "There is €250 million of naval assets lying idle in Cork Harbour at the moment because we don't have the crew to put them to sea." Mr Berry said the current political debate about the triple lock is a "distraction from the real defence and security issues". Former KIldare South TD Cathal Berry was a deputy commander in the Army Ranger Wing. "These are the actual defence issues that matter, the elephant in the room. Unfortunately some politicans and wannabe politicians have gone down the rabbit hold of focusing on an esoteric, academic thing like the triple lock rather than dealing with the actual issues that matter. "The issues are that we can't put our navy to sea, we have no air traffic control in Baldonnel. The only Irish air base at the moment is operating 9-5, office hours only, five days a week. That is a crisis in anyone's language. "Wheter the triple lock stays or goes is irrelevant to me. But if it stays it should be applied to every occupation on the public payroll not just discriminating against soliders, for instance, it should apply to diplomats, politicians, trade missions, civil servants. The idea that it applies only to members of the Defence Forces is completely unnaceptable to me, if other occupations experienced the same level of extreme micro management they would have a very different view on it. "Our very fine soldiers, sailors and aviators have distinguished themselves across the globe for decades. If it is to stay, it should apply to all public occupations with only 12 allowed to travel together." Mr Berry said the Defence Forces is "fundamentally a people business" and that improvements in conditions for members will go a "long way to solving this crisis". 'Three Ps' "A ship, an aircraft, is only as good as the soldier, sailor or aviator crewing it. There hasn't been enough ministerial intervention, particularly over the last 10 years, to solve that problem. Ireland Changes to triple lock 'nothing to do with neutral... Read More "It requires a direct itervention from the Cabinet table to fix this. Our maritime security is almost non-existent. "If you want to solve the people issue it's the three Ps - pay, purpose, pride. "If you pay tecnichians and specialists propertly they will stay in the navy, if you provide people with the right resources they will have purpose. "Solve the pay and purpose piece, then people will be walking around in their navy and military uniforms proud of their jobs."
The Journal
14-05-2025
- Business
- The Journal
Fears Air Corps may have to cut down on night flights due to lack of air traffic controllers
IT IS FEARED the Irish Air Corps could face having to shut down its flight operations at night because it is losing air traffic controllers to high paid civilian jobs, The Journal has learned. Air traffic control for the Air Corps is managed from Casement Aerodrome at Baldonnel in southwest Co Dublin. The base has its own air traffic controllers who manage the airspace around the airfield, which can include night operations by military helicopters, Garda aircraft and fixed wing Defence Forces aircraft such as those used to monitor maritime activities off the coast. The jobs are staffed by trained military members, and the air traffic control personnel is made up of both commissioned and non-commissioned officers. According to multiple sources we spoke to, air traffic control tower personnel are leaving their State jobs for jobs elsewhere, where they can take up roles that have a starting wage of €80,000. Specialist military personnel have left for jobs at companies such as Aer Lingus and at AirNav Ireland, which employs over 200 controllers at Dublin, Shannon and Cork airports. A senior source in the Irish Air Corps also noted the growth of Weston Airport near Leixlip, on the border of Dublin and Kildare, where there has been extensive recruitment efforts to bring in experienced personnel from the Irish military. 'The Defence Forces don't take direct entry from the civilian world to fill gaps as they arise,' the source said. 'If someone with a key skill, like an air traffic controller leaves, we have to employ from within to fill that gap. 'So we have to take people in and start them from stage one of their military training and then start the process of getting them qualified to ATC level – that can take up to five years to achieve.' Compounding the issue, sources said, is the fact that it's usually more experienced controllers who carry out the on-the-job training in Baldonnel of newly qualified members. Advertisement Sources have said that a delay in offering the non-commissioned ranks promotions to become officers was key to them leaving. 'It would have stopped them leaving – but it just didn't happen in time,' one source said. Cathal Berry, a former TD and army officer, said that the issue had been flagged a number of years ago but the Government failed to act to implement incentives to retain the specialists. 'This is the perfect example of a single point of failure – this has the potential to cause the entire operation to end. 'It has been bubbling under surface for a long time but it is a real pity we don't get ahead – they could have been a small stitch years ago to solve it but now there has to be a mad scramble. 'They are going to a job that is less secure and they do not get the same job satisfaction but there are push factors sending them to the private sector. 'A report was written a number of years ago highlighting this crisis and the recommendations were never implemented,' the former TD said. Berry explained that the Officer Commanding the Air Corps is not given the autonomy to fix the problem. 'He has no budget control to fix this – there is no CEO in the world that does not have the power to allocate resources – this is at the political level and no action has beentaken. 'The consequences are very severe for national security, maritime patrol and even in the case of the emergency transfer of organs. There needs a ministerial intervention – officials don't have directions to act and the military have no powers,' he added. The Garda Air Support Unit (GASU) is also based at Baldonnel, in addition to military operations. The unit includes helicopters, and the force is also due to take delivery of a new fixed-wing surveillance aircraft. There's concern among sources we spoke to that An Garda Síochána may leave Baldonnel due to the air traffic control issue. Statements have been requested from the Department of Defence and the Irish Defence Forces. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
