There is little in VRAI’s small Dublin office to suggest it makes military tools. An electric bicycle is parked in the corner, there are croissants on the table and Lego models arranged on shelves.
The company has “three bottom lines”, a staff member explains. “When we’re doing business, we’re not only making decisions based on what’s going to make the biggest profit. We’re also making decisions that means what’s the right thing to do by people and what’s the right thing to do by the planet.”
He points to the biodegradable company pens on the table and lists VRAI’s progressive polices (a commitment to gender parity, a ban on unpaid internships, and so on). All that’s missing are a few beanbag chairs.
VRAI looks like a tech start-up because that’s what it is. Except it also happens to make software which is of great interest to militaries, namely sophisticated virtual reality training software.
The most obvious use for VRAI's training software is training pilots to fly but it can also be used for tasks as varied as training offshore wind engineers to fix a turbine blade hundreds of feet in the air or teaching a peacekeeper to spot landmines from the top of their armoured personnel carrier, explains VRAI founder Niall Campion.
The company is one of hundreds operating in Ireland which make "dual-use technology" – technology which can be used for both military and civilian purposes. Dual-use technology is fuelling a boom within the Irish defence industry and the Government is seeking to accelerate that growth by investing vast sums of money in a common EU defence fund.
The hope is this will create Irish jobs in companies, drive innovation and ensure the specific technology needs of the Defence Forces are met.
But there are also worries these developments could draw Ireland into the global military industry complex and result in Irish money indirectly fuelling military aggression worldwide.
Conversely, within the burgeoning defence industry, there are concerns Irish money will be used to benefit the economies and militaries of larger EU nations, while the Irish taxpayer and soldier sees little in return.
There are about 550 firms active in the Irish defence industry. By one metric, the value of the Irish dual-use export market of 2019 was €2.4 billion, which easily exceeds the value of Ireland’s beef export market.
Representative association
The growth of the market prompted VRAI managing director and co-founder Pat O’Connor, a former Army Cavalry officer, to set up the Irish Defence and Security Association (IDSA) to represent industry and research bodies in the sector.
The group came together, O’Connor says, “because the next decade or more is likely to see a further deterioration in the defence and security landscape and obviously what has happened in the last few months would reinforce that”.
He says it found there was a “huge unmet need” for the Irish defence industry to be represented. There was also a patriotic angle, O’Connor says.
“This is very much a green jumper effort. People feel there’s a need to get things right in defence and security. We’ve under invested for decades. Everyone knows we’re vulnerable. What can defence and security industry and research do to help that?”
IDSA is made up of small to medium enterprises (SMEs) and research institutions such as UCD and the Tyndall National Research Institute. Its members manufacture a wide range of products, from drones to bomb disposal robots to communications systems.
It launched last November, just a few months before the commission on the Defence Forces recommended a massive increase in Irish defence spending. O’Connor rejects any suggestion the IDSA was formed to take advantage of the commission’s report. He says no one had any idea at the time what the commission was going to recommend and that work on setting up the IDSA began far earlier.
Opportune time
It is an opportune time to be in the defence sector. With the commission proposing a tripling of Irish defence spending, and countries across Europe committing to greatly increasing military investment in the face of a belligerent Russia, there is plenty of business to go around.
Ireland is well placed to take advantage of the increased focus on technology, says O’Connor. Instead of being wedded to the heavy industry needed to support the building of military machines, Irish companies can develop the technologies needed to power those machines.
“We’re saying, let’s not do this the same as everyone else, let’s see if we can do it in a way that creates jobs in Ireland, that creates technologies that we can then export and create more jobs.”
It also makes sense for small countries to focus on technology for their own defence, he says. "You're probably seeing that in the likes of Ukraine at the moment. Technology can give you an advantage that far outweighs your size. And it can also be a way to deter anything ever happening."
The Government has lately been keen to support this industry. Last November, it held an event aimed at linking Irish SMEs with European funding opportunities in the defence sector.
"I would like to congratulate Ireland for the increased interest on the defence side towards the EU and the EDF [European Defence Fund]," Jan Pie, head of the AeroSpace and Defence Industries Association of Europe, told attendees.
Emphasis on technology
Perhaps conscious of worries about neutrality, the Government is eager to emphasise the less controversial side of the Irish defence industry and how its technology can be used to save lives rather than take them. Since 2015, government ministers have uttered the exact phrase “Ireland does not have an arms industry” nine times during Dáil debates.
While it is true that Ireland does not sell bombs or guns to militaries, it does export a wide range of other military equipment, such as components for armoured cars and protective equipment.
The growth of this sector in recent years is startling. According to the most recent available figures, the value of military equipment exported from Ireland soared from €42.3 million in 2019 to €108.5 million in 2020. The majority of this equipment goes to the US. In 2020, Ireland shipped €67.5 million worth of military equipment there.
The jump may be partly explained by the decision in 2020 to update the EU list of restricted military equipment to include offensive cyber weapons, including software designed “to destroy, damage, degrade or disrupt systems, equipment or software”.
However, it is not known which, if any, Irish companies produce such software.
The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment points out that military equipment is a broad category which includes “protective gear, communications and navigation technology, transport vehicles and equipment used for peace-keeping missions”.
Export licences
Irish Defence Forces equipment being sent abroad for maintenance also requires an export licence as do hunting and target shooting firearms and explosives for commercial mining.
A department spokeswoman declined to say if any particular sector accounted for the massive jump in 2020 but says the value of military licences issued can vary significantly from year to year “due to the small number of exporters in receipt of such licences, and the vagaries of international markets”.
The licensing of dual-use technology, such as VRAI’s training software, is also growing. In 2020, despite the pandemic, 476 dual-use export licences were issued, a 6.9 per cent increase on 2019.
The Government also denied 22 export licences in 2020, down from 38 denials the previous year.
“These denials were made on the grounds of considerations about the intended end-use, the protection of human rights, the risk of diversion and EU sanctions,” says the Department of Trade.
In some cases, before an export licence is granted, the department liaises with Revenue to ensure it would not breach any international sanctions. In 2020, Revenue examined 165 pending exports, including to countries with poor human rights records such as Sudan, Syria, Myanmar, Yemen, Belarus, Russia and Zimbabwe.
The vast majority of technology developed here is focused on helping or protecting people rather than hurting them. Drones being developed here can automatically monitor the ocean for oil spills or drugs smuggling, while Irish-made robots are used not only to defuse bombs, but to inspect buildings for structural safety after a fire.
One such robot, developed by Remada Technology in Cork, was used to inspect the Douglas Shopping Centre in the county after it was gutted by fire in 2019.
But technology used to detect an oil spill can also be used to drop a bomb on someone in a Middle Eastern desert.
Ethics
O’Connor, of IDSA, acknowledges this and says research into the ethics of such technologies is vital. This is already happening, he says. “That needs to be got right. It’s so critical. It can only be got right if people are researching it and thinking about it.”
He also makes no apology for wanting to see Irish soldiers equipped to the best standard possible. “I’ve been to war zones. When you’re there you want to have the best equipment you can possibly have to remove yourself from harm and protect the people who can’t protect themselves.”
The Irish defence industry sees the European Defence Fund EDF as vital to its growth. The EDF is part of the EU Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and is intended to co-ordinate member states’ military spending and bolster the EU defence industry.
Between 2021 and 2027, €8 billion will be spent on research and development across various military projects of which the Irish taxpayer will contribute about €150 million.
EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton called the fund "an absolutely essential contribution to greater European sovereignty".
Ireland cannot pick and choose where its €150 million contribution goes, critics point out <br/>
Of the 26 initial projects, some, such as cyber defence research, will be relevant to Irish security. Others, such as advanced jet fighter engines, will likely not.
And others still, such as research into improved warheads and unmanned ground combat vehicles, are raising concerns that Ireland is funding the military adventures of other countries.
Ireland cannot pick and choose where its €150 million contribution goes, critics point out. All of the funding goes into one big pot.
"I think it's scandalous that Ireland, with what we know of war here, is consciously and deliberately getting involved in that industry," says Joe Murray, co-ordinator of the Irish human rights advocacy group Afri. "I just find it appalling. We are seeing the ugly face of war in Ukraine and see what horror these weapons cause."
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy, who has been a vocal critic of what he sees as the ongoing erosion of Irish neutrality, says he believes the Irish public would be "very concerned" that public money is potentially going to large European armaments companies.
“From our point of view, these are dealers in death. They’re the ones who benefit from wars; if you look at their share prices since the invasion of Ukraine, they’ve shot through the roof.
“This money is not just going for things that are defensive in nature. It is clearly funding offensive weapons.”
The Department of Defence did not address specific queries from The Irish Times about the issue. However, it points out that Irish funding does not go directly in the EDF but comes from the general EU budget to which Ireland contributes.
It says EDF programmes “are agreed on an annual basis by all 27 EU member states”.
The EDF model also concerns the Irish defence industry, albeit for different reasons. O’Connor is worried Irish taxpayer money will be used to create employment and defensive capabilities in larger EU nations which have long-established defence industries, instead of meeting Irish needs.
The Government must ensure Irish companies and researchers can partake in large defence projects by co-funding projects with them, he says.
“If that doesn’t happen in Ireland, why would any consortium bring in an Irish company?” he asks. “We need to make sure the Irish supply chain is not disadvantaged.”
Asked about these concerns, the department says Irish companies can “compete with the best in Europe in these dual-use projects”. It says it has recently set up a Research, Technology and Innovation Unit to work with Irish industry and researchers in applying for EDF funding.
The Defence Forces used to buy naval ships from Cork and armoured personnel carriers built in Meath.
Heavy military equipment like this is no longer made here. But, according to O’Connor, that doesn’t mean Irish businesses cannot help develop, for example, the computer systems they run on.
