Irish peacekeepers could be sent to Ukraine ‘if required’

The Minister for Defence has said Ireland could send peacekeepers to Ukraine if it was called to do so as part of any peace deal in the war with Russia.

However, Tánaiste Simon Harris said it is very hard to talk about peace in the hours after Vladimir Putin “continued his reign of terror on Ukraine” with a significant attack of drone and missiles overnight.

Speaking at an event for Veterans’ Day, Minister Harris said if there was a requirement for peacekeepers “Ireland certainly wouldn’t recuse itself from that conversation, we would be very eager to assist”.

The Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces echoed the sentiments of the minister that there is no sign of peace in Ukraine as yet.

Watch: Hard to talk about peace after Putin ‘continued his reign of terror on Ukraine’ – Harris

But Lieutenant General Rossa Mulcahy said he would provide military options for the Government if required, whether it was a “peace enforcement or peace keeping mission”.

He said Ireland has served on missions in the United Nations, NATO and the European Union in “robust environments in the past and I am sure there are capabilities that Ireland could provide, but that would be subject to Government approval”.

Lt Gen Mulcahy said they are “fully committed to UNIFIL at the moment, that is our largest mission and that will continue until December 2026 and into 2027 as we draw down from that mission”.

Mr Harris said further sanctions are the way forward to try to bring about peace in Ukraine, that the US and and EU have to work together to maximise the pressure on Vladimir Putin to change his course of action.

Mr Harris also announced that an Office of Veteran Affairs will be established to help deliver services for former members of the Defence Forces.

A memo will be brought to the Cabinet next month and the office will be set up by the end of the year, which he said will “be able to advocate for veterans, can help coordinate the delivery of services can become a one stop shop for information”.

The Tánaiste said he hoped the office would also be able to assist with events like Veterans Day and raise public awareness of the service of the men and women.

He said it was a very important day to say thank you to our veterans

“Thank you to them for their service at home and abroad, the men and women of Óglaigh na hÉireann who served with distinction and great honour here in Ireland, but also in many conflict zones right across the world, and I’m thinking today, of many Irish troops that are still deployed overseas in a number of locations,” Mr Harris said.

Harris looks forward to increased Defence Forces spending

Mr Harris also said he looks forward to increased spending for the Defence Forces being announced in the Budget.

He said the focus of the Government is on reaching Level of Ambition 2 (LoA2), which will increase defence spend on radar and sonar capabilities.

He said the Government takes the security of Ireland “extraordinarily seriously”.

“Ireland’s a proud, militarily neutral country, militarily unaligned country. That’s not the same, though, as saying you don’t take your defence and security seriously. We take it extraordinarily seriously,” Mr Harris said.

He said following this initial spend, the ambition is to reach LoA3 which would include increasing air capacity in terms of fighter jets.

Lt Gen Mulcahy described it as a step approach and said the increase in spend is “a very comprehensive, probably the largest investment that the state will make in capability and in capital”.

He said it will include radar functionality, air defence systems, and will also include radars on board ships.

Lt Gen Mulcahy described it as a very comprehensive approach – and said the delivery of those systems will be throughout 2026.