The Defence Forces’ elite Ranger Wing; Máirín Ní Ghadhra, of TG4

Tonight.

On TG4’s 7LÁ at 7.35pm.

Broadcaster Máirín Ní Ghadhra will present an item on Ireland’s Defence Forces which will include an interview with Frank Reidy, a former Defence Forces officer.

TG4 writez:

According to former officers from the Irish Defence Forces, soldiers are at a very low ebb and they say that they cannot survive on the wages they are being paid.

The force is also reputedly 650 short of its full complement and the Department of Defence is failing in it’s efforts to recruit new members because of the unsatisfactory working conditions.

The Public Service Pay Commission is due to publish a report soon which will make recommendations to Minister Paschal Donohoe to resolve the issues.

7 Lá (TG4)

Previously: Indefensible

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25 thoughts on “No Defence

      1. Slightly Bemused

        If it was a direct quote which had the apostrophe in it, should it not be left in, followed by [sic]? Serious question as to the correct procedure in quoting.

        1. Andyourpointiswhatexactly?

          That’s a bit of a winky move. Better to just edit it so it’s right.

          1. Slightly Bemused

            It was not intended to be, t’was an honest question. I do see your point, but my question was about editorial ethics rather than ease of reading

          2. Andyourpointiswhatexactly?

            Generally [sic] is a bit of a dig. I’d [sic] incorrectly spelled legislation, for instance. But not something like this.

  1. Roger Opinions

    An tiny island with a non functioning healthcare and housing infrastructure can’t afford a full time defense force.

    That is a fact.

    Even if you clowns with a West Brit mindset like the pageantry of it. It’s money we don’t have, on a service we don’t need. In any way, shape or form.

    1. Slightly Bemused

      Supporting the need for the Defence Forces (who, incidentally, were originally formed to get the British out of Ireland) is not a West Brit attitude. And I fail to see where the pageantry is. Unlike the British army at certain location, our Forces do not engage in daily displays purely fort he effect of it, such as the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace. Such formations and displays as they do are rooted in old military traditions designed more around maintaining discipline and combat readiness in a peacetime environment than mere show. You might note the lack of regular military displays and parades, no?

      While I do agree that money should be allocated more wisely by the Government in the areas you mention, to which I would include education, pre-school and elderly care, this does not preclude the need for our own Defence Forces. The Navy provides fisheries protection and, together with the Air Corps, essential air and sea rescue alongside the lifeboat service (interestingly, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution: are they West Brit?). The Army provide bomb disposal expertise, a function that is needed certainly on a weekly basis, a function not available from other bodies. In addition, II recall when the Army was required to provide armed escort duties for cash-in-transit vans to prevent robberies by various criminal and terrorist elements. They way things are going, including the threat of a hard border after Brexit, this may be needed again.

      Get off your high horse!

      1. Slightly Bemused

        Apologies for various spelling errors: was using a mobile device which does not allow easy review of text :)

      1. Roger Opinions

        A tiny island that can’t afford to run its healthcare system and housing infrastructure can’t afford a full time defense force of our size.

        That is a FACT.

  2. Iwerzon

    The Defense Forces are being wound-down intentionally to make way for Ireland’s seamless integration into an EU wide army. We ditched our neutrality years ago before you start that line of defense.

  3. eoin

    If we are going to maintain an army, then we need to pay them a living wage which allows them to afford housing (and child care for families). At the lower ranks, they can’t afford these basic necessities at present.

    Why has Pascal Donohue been sitting on this report for a month? Publish the fuppin’ thing and debate its findings.

    1. Slightly Bemused

      I firmly agree! And give them parity with the other State services such as the Gardai on certain issues. For example, as the ‘Sheet recently reported, the disparity between allowances over the visit of The Donald where Guards got around about €1,100 for the 3 days, while soldiers got €80. In addition, the soldiers took longer shifts, and slept in field tents, given basic food, while the Guards who came in were put up in B&Bs and hotels, and the local businesses provided food.

      The problem is that what the Defence Forces do is not visible to the public on a daily basis, and so the ‘out of sight, out of mind’ principle applies.

      1. Cian

        This isn’t peculiar to Ireland.
        Soldiers across the world are paid less than police.

        Irish soldiers are paid similar to other nation’s soldiers.

        1. Iwerzon

          They’re not an army but a defense force and shouldn’t be compared to other nations.

          1. Cian

            Right.
            And An Garda Siochana shouldn’t be compared to a police force because they are actually guardians of the peace?

      2. Rob_G

        I think there is a much clearer case here for paying Gardaí less, as opposed to one for paying soldiers more (though we should probably pay them more also).

  4. Johnny Keenan

    The Irish Defence force are also UN Peace Keepers. Slightly Bemused highlights the article by the sheet in relation to comparison between soldiers and gardai for looking after a total and utter piece of trash. Calling him ‘ the Donald’ is like referring to him as one of the lads. He is a piece of crap and we paid €10 million to look after that piece of crap. While putting our country under threat in the process.
    I was chatting a woman in Kildare ( not Clontarf) and she said that her son was working down in Shannon with the army. She said her son was walking through fields for 3 days. Fed on mars bars and taytos and came back drenched.

    I spent 2 nights in ShannonWatch Peace Camp http://www.shannonwatch.com and got to talk to one of the organisers.
    Former Major Lieutenant of the Irish Defence Force Edward Horgan brought UN peace keeping missions into buffer zones all over the Middje East.
    Once fighting armies and militia saw the tricolor of Ireland they knew they could talk to these UN peace keepers.

    With the imminent danger of EU Army can someone explain to me what exactly do Ireland and Irish people stand for.
    We are actually expecting young women and young men to join an army to look after American interest.
    Don’t tell me without convincing me it’s anything less.

    Is the CIA shill Declan Power operating on here?

    1. Shitferbrains

      Horgan is an obsessive. Iran can now drive from Tehran to the Syrian coast through territory it or its proxies control and he’s still babbling on about American imperialism.

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