Ireland has long been a “free rider” in the areas of security and defence. This country – which is officially neutral and allocates a very small percentage, 0.22%, of GDP to its military spending in 2025 – is defenseless.
With only four naval ships, patrol vessels that lack technicians to operate their weapons, and no combat aircraft, Ireland is unable to protect itself, its waters and the maritime infrastructure that surrounds the island, on which transatlantic communications depend. Even today, in an era of escalating geopolitical threats, Dublin still lacks any coherent long-term security strategy.
Security problem
Dublin faces an urgent security problem that must be addressed, after it was embarrassed by its inability to deal with a drone incursion during the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last December.
Ireland will strive to avoid similar incidents when it assumes the rotating presidency of the European Council, the intergovernmental body that is the real power center behind the EU, with all the summits and ministerial meetings that entails, next month.
French Navy
Given its inability to manage security affairs alone, Dublin recently announced that it is seeking to enlist the help of the French Navy to provide temporary air defense during important European Council meetings.
Facing pressure from both the European Union and the United States, Ireland has also embarked on a defense spending programme, with the aim of beginning to address its most serious shortcomings.
In this regard as well, Ireland is cooperating with France. Last January, Dublin and Paris signed a joint strategic framework that will continue until 2030.
Last February, this was followed by a military cooperation agreement, including joint training, intelligence exchange, and other areas. Most importantly, Ireland entrusted its military procurement, legal, administrative and logistical control almost entirely to France.
Purchasing agreements
As part of the new treaties, Ireland and France are finalizing a series of procurement agreements between the two governments.
Indeed, the Irish government assigns France to negotiate, implement and sign contracts for vital military equipment on its behalf.
France will select the supplier, set schedules and set pricing terms, without any competitive tendering, independent Irish technical assessment, or mechanism to verify that Ireland is getting value for money. Paris will control the maintenance and supply chains necessary for the long-term use of this equipment, while at the same time leading the training of the Irish forces involved.
rearmament
The French Directorate General of Armaments, whose official stated goal is to equip the French army and promote French arms exports, is currently managing Ireland’s rearmament.
Given the French state’s long-standing tradition of using defense procurement as an industrial policy, which is evident to this day through the government’s stakes in Thales, Safran and other arms manufacturing conglomerates, French companies are likely to be the exclusive beneficiaries of the “blank cheque” introduced by Dublin.
First device
Even before the latest round of French-Irish agreements, Thales was chosen, in June 2025, to supply the Irish Navy with the first towed sonar device in its history, a device used by warships to detect infiltrating submarines, in a deal worth 60 million euros.
In December 2025, the Irish government also agreed to begin negotiations with Paris on a radar system worth €500 million.
The Irish Times confirmed this, saying that “Ireland has actually contracted with officials in Paris to supply the system.”
Huge amount
Irish Defense Minister Helen McEntee said that “the French offer was accepted because it largely met Ireland’s requirements in terms of capabilities,” but what she did not mention was that this huge sum would be spent without public tender or competitive bidding, and that it is essentially the French government that decides which radar system suits Ireland best, and which French supplier should get the contract. About “Foreign Policy”
• Ireland enjoys official neutrality, and allocates a very small percentage, 0.22%, of GDP to military spending.
