Brendan Burgess
Founder
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Yes. The island is still in recovery from illegal organisations which are/were heavily armed. We don't know what would have happened the republic if we had no army during the height of the northern troubles. The IRA hasn't gone away, you know; neither has the UDA, UVF, etc. Eventhough the north is now largely in recovery there are still some ripples which could grow into a tsunami. And Brendan thinks a special unit Garda force would have served the republic better! I don't think so.
But also, the defense forces are the backstop against democracy somehow putting the looneys in power.
Do we need a navy? Yes. We need somebody to protect our fishing waters which are under assault from fishermen of other nations, drug barons. I haven't even mentioned rescue facilities.
Boss, Ceist Beag has given an answer on your first point. You can call them what you want but let's distinguish between society's policing needs and its defence needs. We always need policing. But we do not usually need actual defence activity, so in such times our defence forces have to pass the time doing boy scout activity.Again, why would the Garda not be the right response to that?
And which looneys are you talking about here?
If Sinn Féin and PPB and I4C get a majority and invite in the Russians to help us are you suggesting that the Army should intervene?
Brendan
The average pay in the Gardai, when you include the cost of their pension, is over €120,000 a year. I don't know what the average pay (including pension) is in the armed forces but I suspect it is considerably lower than that.Again, why would the Garda not be the right response to that?
And which looneys are you talking about here?
If Sinn Féin and PPB and I4C get a majority and invite in the Russians to help us are you suggesting that the Army should intervene?
Brendan
The elites and Army in Venezuela tries that when Chavez was elected and people here went nuts about it. It turns out they were right!I would hope that if our country started to drift towards a Venezuela type situation that the powers that be (the elites?) would intervene with the backing of the army.
Their role is very much a defensive role, compared to the Gardai who go after criminals.
But why do we need an army?
Could we not have a Garda force with a special unit
Brendan
I heard that the guy in charge of the Ranger unit had quit because of the contempt which the government has for the army.
Costa Rica, a country the same size and population as Ireland which is bordered by Nicaragua and Panama and near Colombia, El Salvador and Honduras, has no army and hasn't has one since the foundation of their State in 1948. If they don't need one why do we?What an outrageous suggestion.
Armies provide security, the basic duty of any state.
Surely even you can see that.
To replace our army with the Gardaí would be a terrible mistake.
Europe would take a dim view of any suggestion of disbanding the army given current tensions.
Really there is no argument.
Summertime stuff.
Apologies to OSG
How do you know these things Purple?Costa Rica, a country the same size and population as Ireland which is bordered by Nicaragua and Panama and near Colombia, El Salvador and Honduras, has no army and hasn't has one since the foundation of their State in 1948. If they don't need one why do we?
Well it seems to be just a matter of name calling though at 70 its "army" is small.Wiki said:Outside the Fuerza Pública, there is a small Special Forces Unit, the Unidad Especial de Intervencion (UEI) or Special Intervention Unit, an elite commando force which trains with special forces from around the world, but is not part of the main police forces. Instead it is part of the Intelligence and Security Directorate (DIS) which reports directly to the Minister of the Presidency. About 70 members strong, it is organized along military lines, although officially a civilian police unit.
How do you know these things Purple?
I was there on business a while back and it came up in a discussion.How do you know these things Purple?
I was there on business a while back and it came up in a discussion.
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