Every Clime, Class and Colour

Irelands territorial waters is significantly larger than its landmass. Covering an area of 880,000 km squared, it is more than 10 times the size of the Island itself. However, most Irish people are not aware of this. Irish politics features limited discussions on how to utilise this asset, and why it’s necessary to be able to defend it. The Irish Sea’s is important for many reasons. Irelands economy is reliant on telecommunications cables from the USA that pass through Irish waters. If several of them were damaged the economic consequences could be severe. The Irish Sea is also important for our fisheries who are hurt by illegal fishing practice by international trawlers. The sea is also key to completing the transition to renewables that climate change demands. It is in Irelands interest to take each of these issues seriously. More discussion around this topic needs to appear in the Islands political discourse. To that end, this blog will first discuss the current state of the Irish Navy and then why Maritime security is key for Ireland to prosper.

The Irish Naval Service

The current situation with the Irish Navy is poor. For an island nation, Irelands Naval capacity is extremely limited. The Naval Service currently has just over 700 personnel and is currently operating only one ship capable of patrolling the Atlantic (O’Riordan, 2024). There are a further two ships operational but are not fit for Atlantic conditions. The minimum number of personnel advised is over 1,000 meaning it is significantly understaffed. The government has made some positive steps to address this. In 2024 wages were increased for serving personnel who will now receive 20,000 euro more than in 2023 (Parente, 2024). This has been done to attract new recruits as well as retain current members. It is too soon to tell if this will have the intended effect so for now the staff shortage remains. The Navy has had some success with humanitarian missions in recent years in a variety of regions around the world. However, with the current shortages it is unable to properly patrol and monitor Irelands territorial waters. This neglect is a result of various governments inaction over many years. It also reflects the apathy regarding the defence issues more broadly. But the development of the Navy is important for the following reasons.

Smuggling and Illegal Fishing

This limited capacity for patrolling’s Irelands territorial waters means that the country is attractive to smugglers. In recent years there has been several high-profile cases of drug smuggling in Irish waters, likely coming from South America. While Ireland has fortunately begun to take a more health-based policy approach to drug addiction, smuggling represents a significant revenue source for Irish gangs. The poor security capacity also affects the states’ ability to crack down on illegal fishing. This is especially true regarding foreign supertrawlers. This issue has been brought up in the Dail just this year following allegations from whistleblowers in the fisheries enforcement sector that Dutch trawlers were illegally fishing ((Mc Bride, 2024). There is a large perception amongst Irish fishermen that supertrawlers often overfish and endanger Irish fishermen’s livelihoods. This has been a significant issue for decades, ever since Ireland joined the EEC (now EU). The fisheries are often regarded as one of the few losers in Ireland joining the European community. And with the severely limited naval presence in the seas, the issue is harder to prevent.

Underwater Cables

Ireland is an important position regarding transatlantic telecommunications cables between Europe and the United State. 75% of all cables in the Northern hemisphere pass through or are near Irelands territorial waters (Mc Cabe and Flynn, 2023). Having the ability to protect these cables is vital for both the Irish economy and Europe’s. This is especially true since the start of the Ukraine war which has seen several underwater pipelines in the Baltics sabotaged. Early in the Ukraine war the Russian Navy planned to hold a training practice in Irelands EEZ, close to the cables. While they eventually cancelled these plans the stunt did highlight how unequipped Ireland is to monitor the cables. Ireland does not have an agency dedicated to protecting undersea infrastructure. Rather, five separate government departments as well as private companies and state agencies cover it collectively (Mc Cabe and Flynn, 2023). This has led to fractured policy decisions and is reflective of how little interest the state has had in developing maritime security. While a deliberate attack on the infrastructure is unlikely it is not impossible, and Ireland should strive to develop its maritime security. This could be done without changing its policy surrounding neutrality, which should be seen as a separate issue.

Energy Security and Renewables

Ireland is also in a fragile situation with its energy security. Over 70% of the energy Ireland consumes is imported, significantly higher than the EU average of 58% (Lee, 2022). Most of this is oil and gas and comes to Ireland through sea pipelines from the UK. Only a small amount is produced by Ireland from the Corrib gas field off the West Coast. At a time when sea pipelines are blowing up across the Baltic Sea, this dependence on imports should be reduced. This is already being done with ambitious plans from the government to develop the renewables sector through wind projects in the Irish Sea. There has also been a large increase in energy being generate through solar panel farms across the country. This scheme allows farmers to rent their land to the government for a period of 20 years and so far, has been a success. However, as of 2022 only 13% of Irelands energy needs have been met by renewables (Lee, 2022). Gas and oil are still overwhelmingly relied on. Ireland should dramatically scale up its development of its Sea’s as an energy source. Both through Wind turbines and possibly if it is worthwhile, waves. Irelands coastline provides the perfect conditions for both renewables and would provide greater diversification of energy sources.

An important prerequisite for this is again for Ireland to develop its naval capacities to monitor and defend its sea-based energy resources. However, it is also true for renewables that will soon be transported to Ireland through underwater cables. For example, Ireland will soon be connected to the French electricity grid through a subsea power cable that is due to finish by 2027. It will provide enough electricity to power 500,000 homes (Irish Independent, 2024). It will be renewable because France gets most of its energy needs through nuclear power. Although producing nuclear power is illegal in Ireland since 1999 consuming energy generated by it is not. While this is quite ironic, it also shows how even the transition to renewables will still in part rely on underwater transportation in Ireland for years to come. The importance of developing the Navy and its underwater monitoring abilities will remain. An improved Navy would help in the defence of Irelands fisheries, cables and energy resources. The country can only benefit.

Bibliography

Irish Independent. 2024. “Editorial: Why choosing to import nuclear power is a typically Irish solution.” Irish Independent, January 8. Retrieved November 13, 2024 (https://www.independent.ie/opinion/editorial/editorial-why-choosing-to-import-nuclear-power-is-a-typically-irish-solution/a1638823886.html).

Lee, George. 2022. “At a glance: Where does Ireland’s energy come from?” RTE, September 6.  Retrieved November 13, 2024 (https://www.rte.ie/news/environment/2022/0907/1320733-where-does-irelands-energy-come-from/).

Mc Bride, Oliver. 2024. ” Whistleblower Claims Foreign Supertrawlers are Pillaging Irish Waters.” The Fishing Daily, July 3. Retrieved November 8, 2024 (https://thefishingdaily.com/featured-news/whistleblower-claims-foreign-supertrawlers-are-pillaging-irish-waters/).

McCabe, R., & Flynn, B. 2023. “Under the radar: Ireland, maritime security capacity, and the governance of subsea infrastructure.”  European Security, 33: 324–344.

O’Riordan, Sean. “Irish navy is now at two thirds of its full strength.” Irish Examiner, June 23. Retrieved November 8, 2024 (https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41421892.htmlhttps://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41421892.html).

Parente, Giovanni. 2024. “Will new pay measures help retention in the Irish Naval Service?”  RTE, January 12. Retrieved November 11, 2024 (https://www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2024/0112/1426020-irish-naval-service-personnel-retention-crisis-salaries-humanitarian-missions/).