The Republic of Ireland has defence forces, including a navy, but has retained a long standing position of being militarily neutral. Mr Varadkar was challenged that Ireland was in reality reliant on the UK’s armed forces in the protection of the seas and the protection of undersea cables. “I’m not aware of any particular UK intervention that’s helped us in that regard.”Mr Varadkar was further challenged that it “falls to the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy in practice”. Mr Varadkar responded: “That’s exactly the point, they would be doing it to protect themselves, not us.”The Taoiseach also queried an assertion around the size of the Russian embassy in Ireland being connected with the proximity to UK territory in Northern Ireland. Mr Varadkar said there are 15 diplomats and 15 other staff at the Russian Embassy in Dublin, which he described as “big for a small country like Ireland but far from huge”.

Source: The Herald February 17, 2024 14:53 UTC