HQ for elite Irish soldiers to be built at the cost of €46 million
By Gráinne Ní Aodha, PA
A new headquarters for elite Irish soldiers is to be built in Co Kildare for €46 million.
Tánaiste and Minister for Defence Simon Harris will bring a memo on the project to Cabinet on Tuesday.
The Army Ranger Wing’s headquarters and training centre will be located at the Curragh Camp in Co Kildare.
Construction on the project is expected to begin later this year.
The Army Ranger unit carries out special operations such as the evacuation of Irish citizens from Afghanistan in August 2021.
The Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces recommended developing the Army Ranger Wing so that it has “organic self‐sustainment capability”, including combat helicopter assets, to insert, operate and extract from mission areas.
It recommended replacing the “complex and opaque” command structure of the unit and clarifying how it would interact with the Garda Emergency Response Unit when required.
It also recommended renaming the Army Ranger Wing to Ireland’s Special Operations Force (IRL SOF) to align with international norms and include permanent Air and Maritime Task Groups in Casement Aerodrome and Haulbowline Naval Base.
The news comes as a Government minister said Ireland's neutrality will be "completely unaffected" by proposed changes to the triple lock, despite criticism from opposition TDs.
Under the current system, Ireland cannot deploy any more than 12 Defence Forces peacekeepers overseas without a mission being approved by the UN Security Council or General Assembly, as well as approval by the Government and the Dáil.
Under draft legislation being advanced by the Government, it is proposed to remove the requirement of formal UN approval and replace it with a stipulation that the deployments are in accordance with the UN Charter.
The Government argues that this will prevent the five permanent members of the Security Council – Russia, China, the UK, the US and France – from exercising their veto against Irish peacekeeping missions.
The Irish Neutrality League and a number of opposition TDs have pledged a "robust challenge" to the changes.
In an interview with BreakingNews.ie, Minister of State Neale Richmond said: "Ireland’s triple lock mechanism for deploying troops abroad is an archaic tool that is hindering our ability to be a global force for good whilst surrendering our sovereign decision making to the veto powers of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council.
"Given that a UN mandate can be vetoed by any of the five permanent security council members, we are effectively giving the likes of Russia and China and a veto of where and when we send our own troops."