LAST UPDATE | 9 May 2023

THE TÁNAISTE HAS said that Ireland is not relying on the Royal Air Force to defend Irish skies.

Micheál Martin, speaking to reporters at the PDFORRA conference in Co Meath this afternoon, said that reports that there is a secret deal between British and Irish governments are “inaccurate”. 

His denial comes as Gary Gannon, of the Social Democrats, called for Martin to confirm or deny whether Ireland has a deal with the UK Government to intercept rogue aircraft over Ireland.

Yesterday, The Irish Times reported that the UK are permitted to police Ireland’s airspace but that concerns had been raised by both ministers and military officials since the agreement came into place.

In September last year The Journal revealed that Senator Gerard Craughwell was suing the Government in an effort to compel them to state whether they have a deal with the British Government to intercept rogue aircraft over Ireland.

In that article it was said that it had been claimed by the Senator and other defence sources that a memorandum was signed with the British to provide a jet fighter response to incoming suspicious aircraft. 

It was reported that this secret agreement between Ireland and the UK has been in place since the early 1950s and was extended following the 9/11 attacks in New York.

Gary Gannon, the Social Democrat’s spokesperson on defence, said that the report means that the Dáil should be permitted to scrutinise the policy.

Gannon said that it was a “reasonable” ask for Martin, who is Minister for Defence and Foreign Affairs, to explain the alleged deal. 

People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy also called for the Government to publish all documentation related to the alleged deal.

Martin responded to this and denied there is a secret deal between the two Governments. 

“We know our deficiencies have been outlined, that’s been outlined in the Commission on the Defence Forces. We don’t have sufficient radar right now.

“We’re not relying on (the RAF) as per reports, this week, we’re not. I think we need to have a sense of perspective and not to be jumping on every comment that is made, or every sort of story that is trending. 

“I believe that that story is not accurate that was released during the week.

“We don’t talk about international security, or national security more generally but as I said, yesterday, we need to be clear on this that anything government, any agreements Government enters into, are fully aligned with national sovereignty and sovereign decision making, and also with military neutrality,” he said. 

When asked about the reports in the Dáil this morning, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that he was limited in what he could say due to it being a national security issue.

“What I can say is that any arrangements we have in place are consistent with our foreign defence and security policy,” Varadkar told the Dáil.

“We have to put in arrangements for certain scenarios and we have arrangements for certain scenarios to assure our safety and national security.”

When put to the Government spokesperson that the Taoiseach appeared to indicate that there was an arrangement of sorts, they said Varadkar “was being very general there” in terms of his comments in the Dáil today. 

It was also pointed out that such comments from the Taoiseach today appeared to jar with comments by both the Tánaiste today and also the former Defence Minister Simon Coveney. 

Coveney told an Oireachtas Committee on Defence last July 2022: “We do not have overflight arrangements with the RAF, to be clear. That is not how it works. It has to apply to Ireland if it has an emergency reason to enter our airspace. Notification procedures relating occasions on when that happens are in place.”

It is worth noting that prior to any conflict between Russia and Ukraine, it was not uncommon for the RAF to enter Irish airspace when Russian aircraft entered without permission.

Additional reporting by Christina Finn

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