Should Ireland Join NATO? 

Because someone’s talking about you without the words “potato” or “drunk” being within the first ten words of the first sentence?

So true

And laugh at the pronunciations of the Gardaí (I'd love to see how Simon would pronounce the "Síochána"...😂), The Dáil and Míchael 😂

@@rogeebear10023 Liz truss met a tea sock

As an Irish-American I feel the same way😂😂

if Moscow are struggling against their neighbours starting a war across a continent won't work out for them

Russia has also been allowed to use irish runways in the past.

All the more reason to join NATO. Of course, russia sees Ireland as a target regardless of what they do.

⁠@@oisinmtomWhen did Russian military aircrafts use Irish airports/ airbases? For what purpose?!? Are you really trying to imply that Russian airforce regularly using Irish airports/ airbases for their own military purposes would be remotely acceptable? And without consequences?

@@oisinmtom I didn't know that I always assumed it was just the US and the Brits.

You have the UK protecting you really. It's just kind of a silent agreement.

Yeah bro fucking dw I'm sure our 2 small naval ships and 5 20 year out of date planes will save us😂

We had a bicycle division

​@@CriticalMyth Ireland will never ever join NATO. Although it will start spending more on defense in the next few years.

@@izune better be cuz its a fuckin joke of an army rn

What are u talking about the Uk been fucking Ireland for years they are to Ireland what Russia is the Ukraine

The Irish navy stopping the Russians thing is complete bullshit

There are plenty of small countries within NATO that couldn't fight off Russia alone either, but the point is to do your bit in the common interest. Ireland can probably get away with it in national security terms because the rest of NATO, and especially the UK could not afford to allow Ireland to be attacked but the fact that we would have to dedicate resources that might be better deployed elsewhere because Ireland cannot be bothered to spend enough on defence means that Ireland does not deserve to be taken seriously by the rest of the world while it takes zero responsibility for protecting itself, never mind regional security.

@@TheThundertaker no one in Ireland wants England to defend Ireland given it still illegally occupies the northern part of the island. If Russia is to attack anyone, they'll attack England. England doesn't have the capability to defend itself according to latest intelligence reports, so any country with a big enough military could take over England.

Lol really? Irish peacekeepers literally babysat Hezbollah turn Lebanon into a missile factory. Even caught colluding with jihadists... Irish virtue signal but they're useless.

Yeah I don't think we should join NATO but I don't really care. At the end of the day it won't really change much.

you just said absolutely nothing with those words.

​@@imnotyourfriendbuddy1883there isn't much to dumb down but let me try. Most Irish people want Ireland to be neutral. Ops isn't as strongly for neutrality as most people. People are currently discussing neutrality more and more, meaning it's not as set in stone as it used to be.

@@jimmyryan5880 I didn't need it dumbed down, I needed it smartened up. All you have said is there is a political argument in Ireland. Who'da thunk it eh?

Being neutral doesn't mean being weak. Switzerland managed to be be neutral and fairly formidable, for example. Leaving yourself at the mercy of Russian warships, sailing through your waters with impunity and undeterred, is a recipe for disaster, and no one in Ireland should tolerate such a vulnerability and violation of your sacred sovereign territory.

Ireland has a population of 5 million. Canada by comparison has some 37 million. These huge militarys end up being entities in and of themselves as whole industries and sections of society end up relying on them. because of that they end up exerting great political will and will often invent reasons for their own necessity. As such I don't think it's advantageous more countries to create these large armies. For example America has spent something like 3/4's of Ireland's GDP on supercarriers. There are huge swaths of american society that depend on the world being an unsafe place, so they will lobby for it to be an unsafe place, whether it is or not. We have seen the stakeholders of the military invent reasons to go to war. As a Canadian we are a much larger country, by both size and population. We need to spend a fair amount on a navy and airforce. Whether ireland is in nato or not I don't mind if the Canadian navy helps keep those communication lines safe. It's in our interest to keep them safe. Ireland having a large army wouldn't make Ireland a safer place, nor would it make the world a safer place. We should be a global community. The UK, the US and Canada should be happy to help keep ireland's coastline safe, and thus global communication safe. We're supposed to all be friends anyway. Ireland is a nice place, with a good economy and low unemployment rate. It is glaring that Ireland doesn't have robust cyber security though. That's like me trying to explain to my mom why she should have a number and a symbol in her bank password.

I was part of the reserve in the '70's . I agree with you 100%.

You support the highest tier? You do know all our public services are in absolute ruin WITHOUT having to deal with getting less spending due to fortification.

Ireland 🇮🇪 should STAY OUT of NATO.

@@claytonberg721 The only increase I agree with in this video is the increase in cyber security. If for no other reason than the entire economy is built of a house of cards of multinationals.

Independent but rely on the British for air defence 😂 you see the irony.

@@RoswellCrash That's not true.

@@RoswellCrash that's either a lie or you are unknowingly spreading misinformation

@@RoswellCrash The UK is currently occupying part of Ireland. Not sure about that air defense argument.

@@vixen878No it’s very true nothing wrong with that imo though.

Well said Roy, good synopsis .

We were never neutral in WW1 for obvious reasons and certainly only Neutral on the Allied side. Sending intel on axis flights over Ireland. Over 80,000 irish born men and women fought against the axis and approx 5k to 10k were killed in action. Had Hitler invaded the UK we were certainly next and it was very close indeed. Neutrality is a lovely idea but it wont stop a nation bent on war from attacking us. Iand nany like me want protection from Nato. We wanted protection when at war in the war if Independence from Britain. We are all friends now but do you honestly think Russia would think us untouchable. Russia kills innocent civilians destroy infrastructure at a moments notice. Eukraine has to fight an aggression otherwise if Russia is victorious they will only kill more civilians to punish them further. Remember Stalin caused a brutally cruel famine in Eukraine and murdered more than Hitler and despised Jews so much so he imprisoned and or murdered Jewish doctors to a point when he had a stroke there were no doctors to help him. Joining Nato dies not cause wars it prevents them. As a proud Irishman I do not want to depend on others ee need to be accountable for our future and the future of peace.

Fully agree that FG/FF have been reckless in thier lack of funding of our defence forces. It just seems to be a logical extension of their "hands off" political dogma. Stupid in the extreme. Also feel that both were weak in caving in to the leftists on Neutrality, although I have not decided yet. We should have a citizens assembly and plebiscite.

Reactive rather than proactive. Was always the same. Fire fighting the whole time, instead of not allowing the fire to start in the first place.

I would. Ireland needs to join NATO. We can't be neutral anymore!

🎯

Yes and the message of condolence the Irish pm sent to Germany upon Hitler's death in may 1945 drove home the point about Ireland's neutrality. At the very least didn't the pm realize Germany was finished? But I get it. Uk bad bad bad. And read about how post war Ireland Irish treated those Irish who did volunteer to fight Hitler under the British flag. Not held up as heroes now were they.

No they werent and they should have been honoured when they returned from the war. We saw Germany as just another empire trying to gain land and having just gained independance we had no want for war after the slaughter of WW1. We were neutral but leaned to the allies.

@@shaneomahony5469 message of condolence when Hitler died. They should have had a national holiday. There's neutral and then there there is moral blindness.

@@edsteadham4085 moral blindness can be attributed to every nation involved ww2. What country are you from may I ask, just to get a clearer picture for myself.

Yes.Ireland has in the P50 class .The le roisin P51 and le Niamh P52.

Yes, but at a distance, the flags could be confused.

The world does not ‘need’ a neutral Ireland. What the western alliance needs is countries who share its values to step up to the plate and be prepared to fight for them. It’s time to choose sides. Finland and Sweden have abandoned neutrality. Debate on neutrality also happening in Switzerland.

It's pronounced "Me-hole"

It's pronounced treacherous cur

But on the flip side as an American if they get attacked i dont think we should help them

@@drewwar9344yeah that’s fine, our fishermen can take on anyone

@@drewwar9344 irish people will fight for their country, not for american pigs. NO TO NATO

Lol 🤣

I remember the days when NZ had jets....

You're happy to see us do worse than you....still have the union jack in your flag or did they allow you to choose your own yet?

@@stiofain88 LOL you obviously don't keep up to date with news huh? Maybe read a newspaper instead of sleeping under one. NZ voted only a couple of years ago to keep the Union Flag on their flag. Better luck next time paddy ;)

@@dredd1981 I'm aware. Being a bootlicker to a failed kingdom isn't something to be proud of. Neither is being a subject of a Crown. Now back to inbreeding before Charlie finds out you've been giving lip my salty little gammon.

Given enough time and money, and taking into account our disaffected youth, I bet Irelands Neutrality could be undermined. Look at the uk and Brexit.

By implication, then the reality is that the Irish people will need to accept that armed neutrality akin to than found in Switzerland or Austria is the consequence. However, collective security is no more or no less of a commitment. Perhaps I would direct you to the German experience: expressly forbidden by the constitution to provide military resources following WW2, they now have overcome their inclinations to confine their activities to defending their own territories in the interests of collective security.

I can't find any reference to neutrality in the Constitution, it does say that it isn't part of the European defence system, but nothing specific about neutrality AFAICS.

ha! nicely done *tips cap*

You mean the place that was so poorly defended that a single Nazgul nearly captured the one ring there, and after Saruman was defeated at Isengard he conquered it with only a collection of second-rate thieves? That Shire?

​@@danielbeshers1689Emmm didn't the hobbits single handedly fight off Sauruman and take back the Shire?

This is like a slightly reformed Mordor talking about the Shire...

The economy could hugely benefit, if it were done well.

That would require building up those industries and protecting them.

We renounced our claim to Northern Ireland with the Good Friday agreement. Our current position is that the people of Northern Ireland have a right to self determination. If a majority ever want to reunite with Ireland then it can be done by referendum

@@yoloswaggins7121 I have a question for Irish, why do y'all hate Israel ? All European nations are pro-Israel except Ireland. Y'all are very hostile toward Israel. Y'all are the only country in Europe who shows support to Palestine. Israel is one of Europe closest friend and ally.

@@lawtraf8008 We were a colony of Britain for a very long time and the Nationalist movement that led to our independence was largely left wing. As a result, we strongly sympathise with downtrodden peoples all over the globe and we are anti imperialist. We do not agree with Israel's oppression of Palestinian people, nor their refusal to follow UN resolutions. It's that simple. We don't "hate" Israel though. We hate the current far right government. We have no problem with Israel's existence and most Irish people support a two state solution.

We don't have nuclear weapons in Belfast you absolute melon...We never have and never will. Additionally it's the official position of the Republic that N.Ireland has the right to self-determination. Which means that the Republic accepts that N.Ireland may never be united with the south.

​@@yoloswaggins7121speak for yourself, not all of us renounce claims to anything.

That's because they had just finished 800 years of dealing with you pricks 🤣. Think Ireland deserved a breather

Based Ireland

The USSR even blocked Ireland entry into the UN because of it. Many neutral nations declared war on Germany in 1945. Just to get a seat in the UN

@@mussyeggood one 🤣🤣

Ah yes, the Irish should have joined in a war they had nothing to do with on behalf of their greatest enemy that devastated and partitioned the island and just came out of a war with less than 18 years before and a trade war from 1932 to 1938. Not too mention the British prime minister at the time was responsible for sending the infamous Black and Tan war criminals to Ireland.

Our forefathers were forced to sign a treaty that said Ireland couldn't have a large standing army and also force nuetrality on us.

@roryoneill9444 The free state army had ten times the men our defence forces have today. There is no excuse for our defence forces to be in this bad of a state also the forefathers you speak of were traitors they sold our people out in the North by accepting the boundary commission to avoid paying imprerial debt. They left them in a state to be discriminated against, humiliated murdered and beaten of the streets, and did nothing to help them when they complained about their lot.

Domesticly we are not a wealthy country. Our GDP is massively inflated by US tech and international finance. Neither of which are willing to pay for services in Ireland. So Google, Amazon, Meta want us to join NATO to protect the data centers they built with the tax back the EU forced us to give them? Let's see them pay the tax to fund it first, rather than seek to load their costs on the tax payers, on money markets at the tax payers risk. In the mean time how about sorting the homelessness crisis? This is Simons worst work I've seen. He's clearly shilling for someone and the lack of editorial standards casts a shadow on the value of his other work for me. Ireland is already a substantial supporter of NATO and has been for a long time. The US has sovereign teritory on the Island, at Shannon. Effectively a land based aircraft carrier which is a vital connection for NATO given its on teritory that would be secure from any land war on continental Europe. We also proved essentially unlimited access to our airspace so that NATO can protect its western seaboard. That Simon couldn't be bothered to research how to pronounce the name or title of the countries PM and foreign secretary tells you a lot about the effort he out into this.

@@ricmorris9758 That is a huge lie, brit, all multi-nationals for services in Ireland, these companies pay more for electricty than households and Corporate Tax is huge part of tax revenue with 27.5% of total tax receipts in 2022 and in another ESRI report "By 2021 a third of the wages paid in the Irish economy came from MNEs". The Housing Crisis???? Do you mean the 25,000 FREE houses that were given out to entitled criminals, junkies and tramps, which 5,000 FREE houses were refused on grounds that the house was too close to their ex-partner..... We stop giving away FREE houses and pass a law to making commiting a crime in the house an eviction offence and their would be no housing crisis for long. The City of londongrad, in your country, is war profiteering by hiding Russian money, while selling weapons to Ukraine, You do also know that your country is also an island and it is in NATO.

@ricmorris9758 There is enough surplus money 65 billion in the next few years to solve the homeless crisis, and to have an adequate defence force, those tech companies are creating well-paid jobs and paying corporation tax we need them. We can keep our neutrality and not join nato, but we shouldn't be defenceless. We need a proper government in power to look after the homeless crisis properly leo and Micheàls parties couldn't care less about the homeless.The sooner the better we get them out

NATO is why we have peace in Europe, Ukraine was not in NATO, look what happened to them.

@@bristoled93 Nato is why we have peace in Europe ? seriously ?, go on then finish the joke, can't wait to hear the punchline.

@@neilisagum If not for NATO, Russia might be invading Poland and the Baltic states, Russia is just too scared to attack NATO, NATO deters aggression.

@@bristoled93 Ok, see that thing in the corner called a tv ?, turn it off, it's messing with your mind.

Then if your attacked the US and our allies shouldn't help you. And stop!!! Having the british chase away the russians for you!!! And just because you join NATO it doesn't mean your are required to fight in any war NATO gets into how much each nation wants to help is left up to the disgratuon of each nation!!!

When has the UK been hostile to ireland recently?

@@helilivesmatter1075 are we talking the 800 or the last 50 years?

@@voljimba2181 The last 50 years. Britain is not a hostile neighbor, tehy activly protect us

That dirty brit pays taxes that help defend that little ireland that contributes nothing to the world yet people seem to love without reason

Well yes that is true but a small nation no matter what army they have can never win a war with a big well equipped nation . We tend to think that nobody is intersted in Ireland . Ireland can be used as a stepping stone to the UK .

from 0 to negative? operation armagedon would have showed that if you had the balls to do it

NATO isn't about defense spending. Ireland is an island. Your only direct enemy is the UK. Which is already in NATO. Your chief worry is uniting the island or Ireland. Once Ireland is united, it can easily join NATO and work towards a common foreign policy. Either with the EU, or with NATO itself. When your prime national security concern is that part of your nation is occupied by the UK, any other issue is minor.

As true as that statement is (and it is absolutely true that our defence forces are woefully under funded) in no way should we ever be seriously considering undoing a neutrality, not only is it one of our defining attributes as a country it is absolutely the right stance from a moral conscientious perspective.

Since they were negligible to begin with, Ireland must be worried about another Viking invasion - I'd put money on Iceland if they gave it a go.

Totally non-existent capabilities. Tanzania 🇹🇿 has a better defense. Ireland really needs to Let the United States park two carrier groups in its waters Give them a home base. And have more children. If you don't have teenagers, you haveno one to recruit into your defense forces. You could always hire Wagner thugs.

pretty telling

Yeah how Ireland is Not capable to defend itself

@@hullandrast’s neutral, on the far west of Europe, has no enemies and is stable politically. They have good relations with the UK. They really need to protect its interests concerning fishing and drug interdiction.

@@marcdavis4509if Ireland wants to remain neutral, it needs to be stronger to defend its immediate interests.

Spoken like a person from the country defending irelands airspace

@@PhoeniX199777 If Ireland wasn't there the Brits would still be flying the same defensive patterns... they'd still have a west coast to defend

Why would the UK invade all of Ireland? What do they have to gain other than pissing off 3 million Irish people?

​@@user-ze8jl3dv1j yeah because the brits are our enemies these days and definitely not our own government who are currently importing tens of thousands economic migrants and bringing in hate speech laws to silent those who dare question the economic migrants flooding our understaffed hospitals and our lack of housing for our own people. Imagine being so backwards that you think the"brits" are the problem. Nah its people like you whos the problem. Dont forget your Palestinian flag

@@user-ze8jl3dv1j what a helmet

Ask the Dutch, they learned the hard way in WW2 that just because you label yourself as neutral, it only works out if the nation on your border decides to allow you to remain so. Likewise, even though Norway and Denmark had declared their neutrality, the Germans decided that they would recognize their neutrality simply by occupying them.

@@longtabsigothat being said, the common denominator for all that happening was Germany and not the principle of neutrality itself. Switzerland was neutral for centuries for almost every war waged around them. Their tactic was however not just neutrality but *armed* neutrality. If those occupied countries by Germany had been a bit more armed as well as neutral things may be different.

The USSR wasn't big on recognizing neutrality even well before the Cold War and even its entry into World War 2. Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan weren't either. Currently China and Russia aren't.

@@longtabsigo True. I also can't help but remember the debacle in Rwanda some 50 years later. In one particular horror story I heard a bunch of mostly European aid workers at an orphanage in Kigali got surrounded by the militia. The workers pleaded their neutrality... just to watch as the Interahamwe machete'd some 300 orphan kids in front of them. It was damn foolish of them to think they could stay neural during a genocide.

Nope. No agreement or vote is required. Constitutionally. We've a history of occupation and suffering at the hands of a superpower. Do we want a replay?

That is how I view it. We must be able to defend ourselves and our neutrality.

I think we should be in NATO but if we are neutral we should be able to defend ourselves or at least monitor our air space and national waters .

Defend ourselves from who exactly?

@@eisirt55 nato aren't the good guys they are made out to be. They have there own self interest and any time they go to war Ireland will be obliged to help even if the population disagree with it. It's maddening that an Irish Republic would ever stoop so low as to join that disgraceful band of war mongerers. Irelands patriot dead would be spinning in there grave

"Under investment"🙄 calm down there mate. You've been reading a bit too much of Matt Carthys propaganda press releases on the parties web page it seems. It was never intended as a military. It was ALWAYS a "Defense force" & used as such. It was essentially there to only be sent on UN missions to promote our diplomatic efforts which was our primary strategy of defense as well as to keep the Provo facists from trying to stage coups down the decades. For those purposes it was prefectly well funded. If it had ever truely been intended as a "military" in the conventional sense post civil war. You'd have a point. Considering it wasnt. Its cynical & manipulative to pretend it was umder invested or "neglected" when the rule of the game changed over night in 2022 with Russias disregard of the post WW2 rules based order upon which Irelands actual unconventional pacifist defense strategy was predicated. It worked very very well till it didnt. Its easy to look back in 2020 hind sight right after someone flipped over the game board & pretend you knew someone would tip the board over in a tantrum & render our prior strategy ineffective. First move in increasing investment is to shift political position. To join NATO or at least move away from the alternative of "neutrality" via playing possum. Which post Ukraine would be idiotic insanity as exclusively diplomatic gaming of the system is no longer possible. Dont pretend they can or could have poured billions into a modern military with teeth capable of deterring anyone seriously when Irish public zeitgeist is to equate neutrality with having no military capacity. People want houses & wanted their poor decisions on what cowboy builders put mica in their houses & wanted their over borrowing during the celtic tiger compensated & didnt want to even shell out to have all the leaky pipes fixed. Dont pretend people during the pandemic or multiple economic collapses or good times of celtic tiger wanted, cared about or would have put up with billions being put into a military which had no war to fight in europe. Its rubbish revisionism to pretend otherwise

Against who. Ireland are importing an African/ NATO army right now. Pockets of soldiers planted all over Co Clare etc all ready to arm up as soon as Mihole fingers Martin gives the go ahead Their called refugees. Miholes Army! Jesus help us. Balloxes are everywhere

@@davidalvarez9312 I'd rather not have to rely on others to defend us

@@davidalvarez9312there’s no way US/UK would defend Ireland in a theater scale war without occupying it.

Simple fact that Ireland could be used to send a message or distract other nations efforts is a big deal tbh, the Irish government is being as irresponsible as they could be as usual.

That's what Senator Tom Clonan has been saying for 2-3 years already too.

C'mon That got a laugh?

LOL

think for a minute.... if Ireland wasn't there would Britain still defend it's west coast in the same way?... urm, yes. If Russia invaded Ireland, you really think that the first thing that would happen is Britain coming running in to defend us???? OMFG, Britain only ever acts in defence of the establishment and it's own interest. I shouldn't have to explain this to an Irish person. Please give me ONE example in history where Britain has 'Defended' Ireland?

Get your sh!t together, Ireland.

​@@user-ze8jl3dv1j, grow up.

You've learned f all then

@@SH-jv4vb How would he have learned 'f all'? Did you fall asleep for 22 minutes?

It's warmongering. There is no risk, its just another Brit talking about a potential problem. They put their noses where they don't belong. There is no point and its a waste of revenues. There is zero reason to attack Ireland and frankly, it makes no sense. You don't want to live in a fear based country which is what tgis would create. Simon needs to stfu

@@mrkeego1769 Thank you for support to my comment. Fair play to you friend. As a retired Irish Soldier, who served on Peacekeeping Missions in the 80s and 90s, I was never appraised of Ireland's vulnerabilities. This video was an eye opener.

May I suggest Jeffrey Sachs: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-RVMnfNCSGtQ.html

Perhaps we could also get some patriots like Ukraine

That and some some of those swedish diesel electric submarines

@@theformalmooshroom9147 Yeah, I picked up a couple of those in IKEA last week. Very useful.

We can just about afford the funds and fuel ⛽️ to train pilots on the PC9s , Gripping 😂😂😂😂,

Ireland is far better financially positioned than most other countries to afford expenditure on it's military but chooses instead to spend the money on unimportant things like education etc!

Was hoping someone would point that out, our Ranger Wing is top tier, and with extra funding for better equipment and better training/pay, we could definitely be a well respected fighting force, while maintaining our neutrality.

i would much prefer if the Irish government built affordable houses and brought in measures to deliver affordable rents

The Irish military has just this week launched a recruitment drive

​@@tomtomftubean undefended/vulnerable country does not attract investors.

@@pablom-f8762 fuck investors, every self respecting country should focus on building from within , harnessing whatever natural resources and workforce from it's own population

Would Nigel Farage have their back vs Russia?

@@frankfinnsweenryan probably. But try and twist it a bit more why don't you.

@@Whoami691 I'm not trying to twist anything, I just don't think Ireland can full-stop count the UK or US, and that breaks my heart.

@@frankfinnsweenryanit already does. British Forces patrol and deter threats in irish waters.

There is no way in a million years the British public would ever side with Russia over Ireland. The UK already overwhelmingly supports Ukraine, and Ireland is among our closest neighbours culturally and geographically with many mixed families from both. Similar to the relationship between the US and Canada

..why you got lucky your next to UK...

It's extremely common knowledge our military is dirt

Ireland is the Canada of that part of the world. Bad military but safe because of where they are and who their neighbours are.

​@@mytaroboy tbf the vast majority of irish people doubt the uk would bother to defend us should anything drastic occur to our pretty tiny island lol obviously the uk wouldn't just sit there and do nothing, just grudges are something 99% of irish dont let go of, even when it doesn't directly involve them or happen to them😂

Who is attacking you?

@@confusedoilpainter3294 Unfortunately this is not really true any longer, i it ever was. Geography has value also.

i would agree, but getting a political consensus on this will be a job.

@@confusedoilpainter3294I take it you didn’t even watch the video. Dumb commenter.

@@confusedoilpainter3294Ireland may not have resource value but plenty of countries in Africa near strategic locations have huge tactical value. Irelands position from a military standpoint gives plenty of ports and coats advantages plus access to the ocean. Both huge goals of the Russians. Without a alliance Ireland would be Ukraine 2.0. Sanctions and gear but nothing else. That is worst case and the least likely scenario in my mind but it’s still a question that Ireland needs to answer.

@@DeafLord18 ??? We have vast gas and oil fields. Almost half a trillion cubic feet of gas.

Thanks

Love how you put “a history of non violence”. Then put the fighting Irish just underneath it!

@@funnyflix895 there would be a mixture of people who do their qualifications through the army and people who go into the maritime college. Normally, the people who go straight to the Maritime college are cherry picked for the Navy, if they are interested. It is just a case of putting them through all fitness and aptitude tests then.

@@funnyflix895nah join the us navy and be a fully real sailor

As someone who aspires to join the Irish naval service (god knows why), I knew this but it still makes me anxious whenever I see this

@@funnyflix895 "the rich, the sons of gardai, politicians nephews..."? It is safe to say that your knowledge of Irish society could be written on the white part of the stamp in between the perforations... "Just join the Royal Navy and learn to be a REAL sailor!"? Yeah, right..... Back in reality, the Irish Naval Service is a high professional, highly trained organisation. The people in it are polyvalent, as in trained for multiple roles.

​@darkmatter9643 look into coast gaurd instead, far more flexible and better pay

Agreed, although I wss caught off guard by the uncensored f-bomb. He's studiously avoided using it before (Moskva video) that using in it in this vid really helped drive the point home.

A force that could seriously defend it's neutrality? It would need to be a rather large force across land, sea and air!

@@malahammer ah your right lad, we better join Nato then so instead of building up our defence forces piece by piece👍🏻 Na actually what we need to do is build up a level of defence where as Nato countries would be happy that we aren't Europe's weak spot.

⁠@@malahammernot really, look at ukraine, they had the advantage in none of those areas

​@@malahammerNot necessarily. Like Britain, as an island the Republic doesn't need a big army if it can secure the sea. A low cost fleet of torpedo patrol boats would be sufficient to ensure some control over their local area. Ireland being small means they don't need a super big air force either, 10-20 aircraft would probably be enough.

What enemies do you have?

Yeah as a Dutchman I consider the Irish untrustworthy for their support of the Russians and Russia anyway.

As a irish I think we need to grow up

Yet they are happy for the UK in particular to defend them? 🤔

The only time the Irish had any decent soldiers was when they were in the British army, so think it would be totally pointless as they have absolutely nothing to offer

​@@harryjones4167 The Government might be, but they'd be happy if most of Dublin burned provided their own properties were unscathed. The Irish people at large, myself included have been lamenting our lack of proper Air defenses for years, long before the Invasion of Ukraine began. That being said, I and many others I know would not wish to join NATO, for numerous reasons, the accessory to the soft imperialism of the United States being only a singular one. Another example being that most would not wish to see our defenses left to the rest of Europe and America, as successive Government's have continually underfunded our Defense Forces. Having others to do it for them would not engender a need to see our own modernised.

IM SURE ROMANIA, AND POLAND. HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO WITH THEIR MONEY..

Look where Ireland is on a map. You have to go through or close to the UK and its NATO connections and nukes.

@@julianshepherd2038 YUP, ...I THINK, WE HAVE THE ENGLISH SURROUNDED.

I really think Poland is going to make a move to be a major player in the EU. I think they are trying to say if you want to fuck around, they will let you find out. I like it. 👍

@@kreiner1 they are doing well partly because the EU has and is spending a fortune upgrading its infrastructure. They were in a useful position between Germany and Russia but the traffic is way down now.

In your imagination. Who was first to help when your economy tanked?

@@jontalbot1 It was a joke, I am not from Ireland.

Spot on, being neutral doesn’t make a country somehow “exempt” from an invasion threat…making that assumption is a huge mistake… Denmark, The Netherlands and Norway were all neutral at the start of WW2, but that didn’t stop them from being invaded and occupied… Even in the plans for the Nazi invasion of Britain in 1940 (Operation Sealion, which never happened) Ireland was definitely in the plan to be invaded as well…

The only countries Ireland is at risk of being invaded by are NATO countries, especially if we have a substantial left wing shift, which I can tell you as a politically active Irish person seems to be the case, Ireland already had a strong left presence and it's only growing, you should all think about your own countries in terms of their own fututres because current political status quo will not last

@@sierra1513 good for you for being politically active, though unfortunately none of what you said goes against any of what I've said. Change the wording of my comment and paint it so that we should worry about NATO invading and that still means we need to fund our Defence Forces

@@mrkeego1769 never intended to "go against" your comment, its just that this video is very much a pro-western/USA view point, despite the US being the biggest adversary to world peace since WW2

@@sierra1513 and it's very well researched, and I happen to agree with most of it. Especially when one of the researchers on the piece regarding the current state of the Defence Forces was my college lecturer. So give me NATO or a proper defence budget and I'll be happy

Sure ye put a leash on the only natural enemy we had. Russia wouldn't want to come here after watching what happened in the North. No one would. Sláinte mo chara.

Pretty sure that's just the checklist of what Star Wars The Clone Wars was

The United Kingdom would never allow a Russian invasion of Ireland, but more cooperation is probably a good solution seeing as Russia is clearly planning to cut undersea cables and cause disruption across Europe. They are a bunch of chavs that need the police to be following them constantly before taking them out which hopefully the NATO strategy and cooperation will provide. More surveillance etc. I did find the rhetoric around British and Irish relations in this video to be completely alien to reality.

We are like brothers, only one of the brothers killed half of the relatives of the second, took his house for eight hundred years, enslave him, constantly beat him, starved him and did not let go until the last, using terror and massacres.

@@desmondolaoire6493 nah he just took his playstation controller you big baby

@@desmondolaoire6493 Which is why it's sort of befuddling that the RAF are the ones patrolling Irish skies. At the very least, a functional naval and air defense capability on home soil should be paramount.

@@stevenmartin6473 Read some history.

100% Needs to keep his nose out of our affairs.

The British isles will be united again 💪🇬🇧

Bit late to this, but we'll said!

The DF is a tax drain only because you havent been given the tools to do your job, its like saying that a truck drivers salary is a drain on the company because you havent given him a truck to drive...it is of course a drain because he cant do his job...i despair at the naivety in this country, 5000 wagner troops almost made it to Moscow in a day, imagine what mayhem they could do here if they landed on our unprotected shores one night...we are sitting ducks at every level...thanks for your service.

@@xax8918 Air Defence of Ireland is deferred to the RAF. Coastal waters actively patrolled by Royal Navy. Even the RNLI carry out the main rescues in Irish waters. I'm half Irish - Ireland talks a good talk when in the company of the EU but never really goes any further forward.

this is a common mentality among Irish politicians across many sectors and not just the Defence Forces. Look at how Dublin has no underground rail system or even a rail connection to the airport. Why? 'buses are cheaper' the grid lock and so on matters not and this applies to so many things. Unless a farmer, banker, the civil service, or GAA as voter bases they can pander to so as to keep them in office, then the Irish government always considers it an expensive pest and nothing more.

So using facilities for what they are intended this makes literally no sense

Does the Irish military participate in any sort of foreign joint training operations with any other countries already? Or will NATO membership be their first time getting to go on NATO train-cations?

Their nimble fingers could quickly swap out the barrels for the Tactical Sassquatch on the MA Duce.

​@@kristopherruiz7644The enemy would not see it coming! I take back my opinion about Ireland joining Nato. Those militarized leprechauns would be a game changer in any possible conflict.

They have a surprising number of veterans in Ireland as many join the French or British military and plenty have become private military contractors.

Irish neutrality is good for NATO. things get politically laundered through Ireland, we know they are friends.

We have always been a neutral country and will remain so. Irish people have zero interest sending Irish men to die in wars for terrorist NATO.

And not to mention the Great Britain which has more Irish citizens and Irish born people than even the USA.

Not if the USA gets a POTUS intent on recking NATO

we would be no worse of then if the Russians took over at least that's the case in Ingland

@Irishinsomniac ... 6 cables only, and we have starlink already, Oneweb, project Kyper coming on stream also, plenty of satellite links ....who gets hurt if these sub sea cables get cut by the Russians ? Tiktok, Facebook, Google....us Irish , we'll be totally fine. So you think we should give up our neutrality and send Irish young people to defends Facebooks bottom line? Remember as well that 2-3 of these cables are down for repairs during any year. NATO was incapable of defending the Nordstream ...and that was it its own backyard

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-o_TWexdlOsc.html&pp=ygUNbmVtc2lzIGZpbGVzIA%3D%3D

see from a fellow Irishman 2 things can be true at once 1 we need to spend more On National Defense 2 that spending on National Defense does not and should not be designed to join NATO one day it should be solely strengthening our military on our Island

Defence. It's a French word and has got a 'c' in it. Where did you learn to spell?

No the kindom of England conquered us then we were given self governance in the United kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland soon that was stripped after a failed nationalist rebellion that destroyed our rights in the uk

Do you really feel under threat from the British now? Like they would invade the Republic? I'm Scottish - do you think we might jump across the water and start a war?

@@Purple_flower09 As I have told you already and the UK has a land border with Ireland. The british pm Borish Johnson threatened to annex Ireland in 2019, David Frost, an unelected minister, held meetings with terrorist to attack Ireland in 2021, even in 2018 a uk minister stated that the uk should threaten Ireland with "food shortages". No the brits will not start a war with Ireland as the Tory Party might want another Conference in Brighton in the future.

Jeez man, we are sorry ok!

In the past everyone invaded everyone else. Other countries got over British colonialism and joined the Commonwealth. Get over yourself.

I hear you out and I too think that Ireland should do what's best for "her", HOWEVER.... If they are going to be neutral, I would suggest a systematic review and attempt at gaining back some military power. Being neutral means you have no enemies, nor friends (in a very simplified term). You have only yourself to depend on for defense. While Ireland may not feel any threat to itself, the territories in does control have global significance. There should definitely be global mediators, but there is a risk that those trans-atlantic cables can be used as a geopolitical/military leverage, and not on Ireland's behalf. There has to be protections on critical infrastructure. If Ireland doesn't want to spend money on the military, thats great. There then must be some sort of agreements between them and outside nations to facilitate the defense of critical infrastructure.

@@Zman44444 While I understand your reasoning, this is a very complicated issue for Ireland, like most of our history. We are most likely to continue to have an Irish solution to an Irish problem. It's not what other countries would do but then it's our country so we will do what's right for us.

the sad thing about the Siege of Jadotville is it took many many years before it was officially recognized properly in Ireland by that time sadly the Commanding officer Pat Quinlan had passed away aged 77 it would be another 9 years after his death before his Heroism was officially recognized in 2006 45 years after the Siege of Jadotville

Which is covered by the UK, as best they can ....................

No because Ireland is not a target ..let's not make her one

NATO has become a money maker for the u.s.

@@stop-the-greedbut it is, in this video he takes about Russia violating its air space and water. It’s already under attack and relies on everyone else to keep it safe without contributions of its own.

​@@stop-the-greed It's not your choice.

The british pm Borish Johnson threatened to annex Ireland in 2019, David Frost, an unelected minister, held meetings with terrorist to attack Ireland in 2021, even in 2018 a uk minister stated that the uk should threaten Ireland with "food shortages". Also since our allies haven't put on sanctions against these attacks, Ireland has been slowly applying sanctions against the enemy as many UK based firms are finding out....

It's propaganda.

@@SGC90-t5y isn’t everything

@@Beanbag777 it's pro NATO propaganda from a posh Englishman speculating about Irish neutrality. Don't listen to that bollox, he has no credentials to talk about such a serious matter. He's just a content creator. He can't even get the pronunciations right. A fraud.

No, YOUR reply is propaganda.@@SGC90-t5y

​@@SGC90-t5yHave anything to back that up?

Switzerland actually invests in its military though.

Whatever about remaining neutral we need to be able to protect ourselves. At this moment in time we can not.

Not just the UK. The whole of NATO and the EU would demolish any country that dares attack Ireland.

That's the first nice neighbourly statement in the comments and shows not english are cunts 😊

from Croatia support your truth.

Imagine a hostile nation overnight having a base to flatten British cities from. Wouldn't be acceptable.

@@middler5 as if!