Since the cutting of cables between Finland and Estonia two years ago, and another incident in November severing links between Finland and Germany, and Sweden to Lithuania, questions are being asked as to who exactly secures the seabed in Ireland’s territorial waters and its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) which stretches 230 miles beyond a nation’s shores.
Transatlantic subsea cables serving Europe and the UK go to or near its shores – but some say recent suspected sabotage means Ireland must be able to defend itself.
Gerard Craughwell, an Irish senator who has campaigned on defence issues for the past decade, told the Guardian it is time for the Irish public to realise that the country’s neutrality is no shield in modern warfare or criminality.
Ireland is not in Nato and has no submarines, and it operates a policy of neutrality, with one of the smallest defence forces in Europe, spending less than countries including Croatia, Slovakia or Portugal.
They are the bedrock of the internet, keeping everything from TikTok to emergency services, business, banking systems and political and military communications running smoothly.