Ireland’s relationship with Nato is under threat due to “recent political shifts in Irish leadership”, the former UK military chief has said.
Jock Stirrup, a member of the House of Lords, made the comments during a parliamentary debate on the security of undersea cables.
Addressing the House of Lords on Monday, Mr Stirrup said Ireland is a crucial hub for undersea cables “but it lacks the capabilities to defend against and be resilient to the destruction of that infrastructure”.
In an apparent reference to last week’s presidential election, which saw Independent TD Catherine Connolly win in a landslide, Mr Stirrup said Ireland’s “individual tailored partnership programme” (ITTP) with Nato “is coming increasingly under threat with recent political shifts in Irish leadership”.
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The ITTP is a bespoke arrangement between Ireland and Nato outlining areas of co-operation.
Ms Connolly is an outspoken critic of Nato and what she has called the “militarisation” of the European Union.
She has accused Nato of “warmongering” and has claimed it is partially to blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
However, though the president is the formal “supreme commander” of the Defence Forces, this is a ceremonial role and holders of the office have no role in formulating defence or foreign policy.
Between 2006 and 2010, Mr Stirrup was the UK’s chief of the defence staff and its most senior military officer. He was later appointed to the House of Lords as a cross-party peer.
During Monday’s debate, Mr Sirrup asked Vernon Coaker, a minister of state in the ministry of defence, what assessment had been made of the UK’s “vulnerabilities to Ireland’s position, and what plans do they have for developing a resilience strategy in that regard in future?”
In response, Mr Coaker said Mr Stirrup had raised an important point. He said the UK government “talks with our Irish colleagues about some of these threats”.
“Wherever a threat may come from, we take measures to defend our homeland from it,” he said.
The Irish and UK governments are drafting an updated memorandum of understanding relating to defence matters. This will focus in part on protecting undersea infrastructure, Mr Coaker previously stated.
It will also seek to expand defence co-operation in other areas, such as joint training programmes, cybersecurity and emergency planning.
The updated memorandum, which was first drafted in 2015, is expected to be in place by next year.
During a debate on the matter in the House of Lords last month, several members also criticised Ireland’s approach to defence.
Kate Hoey, a peer from Northern Ireland, said Ireland is able to “keep their neutrality without having to pay any contributions” and asked the minister to tell his counterpart in Dublin “that co-operation is a two-way process”.
Alan West, a retired Royal Navy admiral, asked: “Is it not time that we made it clear to the Irish that, in this globally dangerous world, they have to make an appropriate contribution to defence?”
Conservative Scottish peer Annabel Goldie said any agreement with Ireland “would require to be underpinned by an appropriate financial arrangement”.
Two years ago, The Irish Times reported the existence of long-standing secret arrangement between the Irish and British governments under which the Royal Air Force (RAF) provides defence services to Ireland if required.
This has in the past seen RAF jets based in Scotland scrambled to intercept Russian military aircraft in Irish-controlled airspace.
The Irish Government is expected to seek additional assistance from the UK to provide air defences during the EU presidency, which Ireland will take up next year.
