Ireland's first military radar system to be rolled out next year

James Cox

Ireland's first military radar system is to rolled out from next year.

The plans, that will allow hostile, surveillance and hijacked aircraft to be detected, will be brought to Cabinet this morning

The Tánaiste said he’s negotiating with four countries who will help develop the system, and he’ll decide to partner with one by October.

Simon Harris, who is also Minister for Defence, said he won’t know how much it will cost until talks finish.

Mr Harris said: "It will take a number of years to fully roll it out, but from early next year you'll see literally month on month, quarter on quarter, Ireland's radar capacity - and the capacity of our Defence Forces in relation to that - improving.

"This is really important. No country is immune from threats. All countries, including militarily neutral countries like Ireland, have to take their own security seriously, including what happens in our skies and what happens in our seas."