Mil News Downtrodden Defence Forces (of Ireland) need purpose

[Connaught Ranger]

The Times & The Sunday Times

News and opinion from The Times & The Sunday Times

www.thetimes.co.uk

 

[Connaught Ranger]

Dept of Defence ‘ignored pleas for military families’, says former social worker

The former head social worker for the Defence Forces has said he was ignored repeatedly when he warned Department of Defence officials about ...

amp.irishexaminer.com

 

[Connaught Ranger]

Leaving the Army: ‘No other uniformed service would put up with this abuse’
Low pay, poor morale and micromanagement forced Cathal Berry from Army

“I’m not leaving because I hate the Army. I’m leaving because I love it. I can’t just sit back anymore and watch the Defence Forces being completely dismantled and demoralised before my eyes.
“As a uniformed officer you’re not permitted to engage with the media, but as a private citizen nobody can gag or muzzle me now. The public and the Dáil need to know what’s going on here.”

Leaving the Army: ‘No other uniformed service would put up with this abuse’

Low pay, poor morale and micromanagement forced Cathal Berry from Army

www.irishtimes.com

 

[Connaught Ranger]

‘Limited’ increases could damage Defence Forces morale

Proposed increases in allowances for members of the Defence Forces could make the retention and recruitment crisis worse, not better, it has been warned.

www.irishexaminer.com

 

[Connaught Ranger]

Sad facts being married members of the Defence force are having to get their wages topped up via Supplementary Welfare Payments in order just to exist yet the Department of Defence returned 92 million Euros to the Irish Exchequer -

Over €92m in Defence Forces funding to the Exchequer | Newstalk

The Defence Forces handed back nearly €100m to the Exchequer over the last five years.Figures ...

www.newstalk.com

 

[Connaught Ranger]

Irish Department of Defence is a total failure at its job, there is not even a single Minister of Defence but a so-called "Minister with Responsibility for Defence," named Paul Kehoe TD

Defence Forces campaign recruited just three new members, Dáil told | Newstalk

A major Defence Forces recruitment campaign resulted in a net increase of just three members.Fia...

www.newstalk.com

 

[Connaught Ranger]

Officers in Defence Forces 'double and treble-jobbing' due to shortages

There are critical shortages of officers in all sections of the Defence Forces, forcing junior officers to act up and becoming overstressed, while others are often "double and treble-jobbing" to cover the gaps.

www.irishexaminer.com

Ironically with regards officers, the ratio of officers to men now is back at the pre 1996/7 point, where a Price-Waterhouse report found the DF to be top heavy in officers, and recommend many be put out to pasture, there has been an embargo on Other-Rank promotions, yet no similar restriction was placed on officer or officer recruiting as I recall.

 

[Connaught Ranger]

Leaving the Navy for jobs in Lidl and Aldi

Leaving the Navy for jobs in Lidl and Aldi

Leaving the Navy for jobs in Lidl and Aldi

www.echolive.ie

 

[Connaught Ranger]

Another downside to the situation in the Irish Defence Forces being actively ignored by the Department of Defence and so called Minister of Defence :- https://www.rte.ie/news/politics/20...5bFQ0lN6xsDkMcoFe5ucWxbWSLMTkwdcimcIbQi-UgtPY

 

[Connaught Ranger]

"Junior officers in the naval service were regularly ‘acting down’ to fulfill duties normally carried out by ordinary and able seamen due to staff shortages months before two vessels were docked due to staff shortages."

Naval officers fill in for junior ranks

Junior officers in the naval service were regularly ‘acting down’ to fulfill duties normally carried out by ordinary and able seamen due to staff shortages months before two vessels were docked due to staff shortages.

www.irishexaminer.com

 

[Connaught Ranger]

‘We’ve passed our breaking point’: Ireland’s military malaise
Some Defence Forces staff now see Minister Paul Kehoe as antagonistic

‘We’ve passed our breaking point’: Ireland’s military malaise

Some Defence Forces staff now see Minister Paul Kehoe as antagonistic

www.irishtimes.com

 

[Connaught Ranger]

"Defence Forces personnel made change on side of road before commemoration event"

Defence Forces personnel made change on side of road before commemoration event

An image of the incident was shared on social media by the Wives and Partners of the Defence Forces.

www.thejournal.ie

 

[muck]

I'm shocked, but not surprised given the current composition of Ireland's government.
Interestingly, Austria's army seems to be in a strikingly similar state of malaise. Of all the neutral nations of the world only Japan and, to some extent, Switzerland seem to maintain a decent level of defence.

 

[Connaught Ranger]

(Irish) Naval Reserve loose all four motor launches.

Navy reserve loses all four motor launches

All four Naval Service Reserve (NSR) motor launches have been decommissioned due to their age, while the strength of the back-up force has significantly decreased and is desperately short of young people.

www.irishexaminer.com

 

[Connaught Ranger]

'I either have to leave the Defence Forces or stay and be homeless with my pregnant wife'

Officers today called for the provision of quarters for married couples or the introduction of a rent allowance to assist them.

www.thejournal.ie

 

[muck]

@Connaught Ranger, could you give us your assessment where the Examiner and the Journal stand, politically? Both have written some damning pieces on the state of the Irish Defence Forces, even though they otherwise seem to be in favour of the sitting government. I try to reconcile both impressions here.

On a related note, I found it hilariously evil of Leo Varadkar to suggest PDForra would try to drive a "wedge" between the military and the civil servants of other branches of the executive by demanding better pay.
Not only are Irish soldiers apparently at the bottom of the food chain already, so the wedge has already been driven in; what is more, theirs is not a job like any other. There is no compelling reason as to why someone who puts their life on the line for the state shouldn't be given at least the same or even preferrential treatment over some mom who works in the motor vehicle registration office.

 

[tea-drinker]

I find the below article hilarious but less so in the context of this thread:

Libyan warlord paid €1.35m for ex-Irish Naval vessel sold by Ireland for €100,000

UAE firm breached UN arms embargo over decommissioned ship, Security Council told

www.irishtimes.com

The former Irish Naval Service patrol ship, the LÉ Aisling, was sold to one of the participants in the civil war in Libya last year in breach of a UN arms embargo, the UN Security Council has been told.

The embargo was breached by a company in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), about a year after the decommissioned vessel was sold by the State to a Dutch shipping broker, according to a UN report.

The State sold the offshore patrol vessel for €110,000 to the Dutch company. The Dutch company sold it a year later, for $525,000 (€473,000), to the company in the UAE, which almost immediately sold it to a company in Libya for $1.5 million (€1.3 million).