Representative group for Defence Forces officers set to criticise Government over ticking retention timebomb thejournal.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thejournal.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Proposed new legislation will make it illegal for anyone but the Defence Forces to call themselves Óglaigh na hÉireann.
Fianna Fáil Senator Malcolm Byrne is calling for the title to be legally protected to prevent dissidents or political organisations from using it.
The name was first used by the Irish Volunteers in 1913 and later by the Irish Republican Army during the War of Independence.
The Provisional IRA also co-opted the name during the Troubles and Senator Byrne told Newstalk Breakfast this morning that it now needs to be protected to ensure it only refers to the men and women of the Defence Forces that “serve us bravely in uniform.”
Cormac O Keeffe: Schism between Department of Defence and Defence Forces a huge challenge
A furore over a published paper by a serving military officer highlights the schism between the two arms of Ireland s defence apparatus, writes Security Correspondent Cormac O Keeffe
This newspaper published a story online - “Ireland has one Department of Defence civil servant for every 23 soldiers” - based on the academic article written by Lieutenant (now Captain) Brian Clarke in the Defence Forces Review 2020 which sparked a furore along Department of Defence corridors. File picture.
Mon, 15 Feb, 2021 - 20:30
Cormac O’Keeffe
For a serving officer in the Defence Forces, it did seem a risky article.
Analysis: it is more than timely that an independent group examines Ireland s Defence Forces, although its remit is not to delve too deeply
Buried amidst the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, the Cabinet quietly agreed on December 15th to establish an independent commission on the Defence Forces. This completes a promise from the June programme for government and comes at a time when the role of the Defence Forces in mobilising against the pandemic has been hugely appreciated.
Yet fighting diseases is not the essence of what armies, navies and airforces do. Their job is to defend any state from violent actors, whether other states or non-state groups. For Ireland s Defence Forces, this essential role is often loss sight of given their abilities as peacekeepers overseas or their support for An Garda Siochána at home. The Irish Defence Forces have sometimes been viewed as a residual type of state labour force. In fact, they re a highly professional military struggling to cope with years
Opinion: Defence Commission cannot be allowed to fail Security is the bedrock on which our society’s cultural, social and economic achievements are built, yet Ireland’s vulnerability is stark 30th December, 2020
‘Currently we have just over 8,100 fully trained personnel on our books, which is 85 per cent of our minimum designed strength, before we even look at the 600 personnel deployed overseas’. Picture: Rollingnews.ie
Facing into an uncertain post-Brexit future, in the throes of a devastating pandemic, just as we are about to assume our seat on the United Nations Security Council, Ireland has never had a greater need for a strong and resilient Defence Forces as part of our State’s security apparatus.