'We've handed keys to country over to cartels' says TD in stark warning about policing our seas
Exclusive: Deputy Cathal Berry, a former second in command of the elite Army Ranger Wing, told Crime and Defence editor Michael O'Toole: 'There is massive lawlessness taking place currently in our territorial waters'
The waters around Ireland have been surrendered to international drugs cartels – because we don’t have the ability to patrol them, a leading TD warns today.
“We've handed the keys of the country over to the cartels,” Deputy Cathal Berry, a former second in command of the elite Army Ranger Wing, says.
“There is massive lawlessness taking place currently in our territorial waters. It is a free for all – it is the wild west, there is no policing,” he says.
Deputy Berry says the fact that the Naval Service can now put only one ship out to sea at a time means Ireland is easy prey to international cartels who want to use this country as a landing point for huge drugs shipments – most of which are destined for Europe.
Gardaí have intercepted several major shipments of drugs in the last year – including the MV Matthew seized by deputy Berry’s former ARW comrades off the south coast in September with more than €157 million of cocaine on board that investigators believe was destined for Europe.
Although the Naval Service has eight ships, personnel shortages mean only one vessel can go to sea at a time – although there are hopes that will increase in the coming weeks. But there are fears our inability to patrol our waters means the cartels will target Ireland as a staging post even more.
In an exclusive interview with the Irish Mirror as part of our special pull out on security threats to Ireland, Kildare South Deputy Berry says our weak defence is a prime reason why cartels are targeting our territory. He says: “That’s why they’re using it.”
And he says it is unacceptable to have only one Naval Service vessel out at a time. He says: “It would be like having one police car for patrolling all of the island of Ireland. It’s completely unrealistic and they’re taking full advantage of full advantage of it.
“We've handed the keys of the country over to the cartels.” He adds: “Every town and village in Ireland is awash with drugs. “Whenever there are drugs there are weapons, whenever there are weapons there are murders.
“The public are starting to join the dots and see what's happening off our coast is a direct correlation with what's happening in every town and village in the country. And national security is intrinsically linked to law and order. It's not just drugs. It's all kinds of contraband. It's vulnerable people. It’s fugitives, it's arms. It's whatever you want.
“You can do whatever you want. (Our defence) is regarded as just being completely the weakest link and any kind of criminality are taking full advantage of it.” Deputy Berry also says Ireland would be able to defend itself for just a few hours if we were invaded – because of the weakness of our Defence Forces.
He says: “It depends on how an attack happens - hours if you attacked it smartly. We’re talking about small numbers of troops as well, by the way. You could do it with a couple of thousand troops in hours. There are cartels in South America, who are more capable than the Irish defence forces due to due to no fault of the Irish Defence Forces, I hasten to add.
“They are better resourced. They have better equipment and they could do a lot of damage to the country if they wanted to. And I'm not saying in any shape or form that that's going to happen. But blow for blow, there's cartels in South America drug cartels better equipped than our own troops.”
Deputy Berry says Ireland is simply not prepared to handle any security or defence crisis because of the weak state of our military, which now stands at just 7,500 personnel - down three thousand since 2006. And he says Ireland is the least militarily prepared country in all of Europe.
“We're at the lowest ebb that we've been in 50 years,” he warns. The military hasn't been this small since 1969. That just shows how far behind we are. We're the least prepared in Europe, not only physically but also from an attitude point of view.
“We don't think there's a threat, which is the greatest threat of all.” He says the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and the Gaza war in Palestine heightened tensions in Europe, raising the risk of World War Three.
He says: “We see what's happening in Eastern Europe. We've seen what's happening in the Middle East.
“So it's state on state, serious kinetic operations. There hasn't been a proper war in Europe since 1945 and all of a sudden it’s back. And we have absolutely no way of preventing or preparing or protecting ourselves from it.”
He says Ireland’s position between Europe and America makes us strategically important – and leave us in danger. He says: “We're uniquely isolated, uniquely vulnerable.
“We are a tempting target and if somebody wants to do damage to Europe, or to North America, or the bridge across the Atlantic, this is ground zero right here. Geographically we are strategically important, and economically we are as well. There is so much American real estate in Ireland.
“You know about (undersea) data cables and but not only that, politically, we are the bridge both physically and metaphorically between the two continents, North America and continental Europe.
“We have a leg in the continental camp. And we not only have a leg in the North American camp, but I would say more accurately, the English speaking peoples. So we are absolutely crucial. And you could argue that this is a point where you could drive a wedge between those two continents.”
He says the fact that the Air Corps has no radar or fighter jets means we cannot even police our skies. “Look at our airspace management, it's appalling,” he says. “Not only can we not intervene, we can't even monitor - we don't even want to know what's happening in our airspace.”
And he says it is vital for Ireland to get fighter jets. “Every other country has them in the European Union - do they know something that we don't?” he says. "If you're happy that your airspace is the Wild West and there’s no way of enforcing your sovereignty in the airspace you don't need jets.
“But if you have pride in your country, and you recognise that it's a flight safety issue, as well as a defence issue, and you recognise that 911 did actually happen, and if you recognize that drugs are being flown into this country, I won't say willy nilly, but on a frequent basis, and we have no means of intercepting or even monitoring.
“If you're happy with absolving yourself of responsibility for your sovereignty and territorial integrity, you don't need jets, but if you have any pride in your country, and you recognise that you do have to exert the state's authority in the air as well as at sea and on the land, then you do.”
Although the government has decided to spends tens of millions of euro on radar that will mean we can spot any military planes in our airspace, the Air Corps doesn’t have any jets capable of intercepting them.
We have a secret deal with Britain’s RAF, who will send planes here in an emergency and they have on several deployed jets to monitor Russian Bear bombers flying off our west coast, close to Irish airspace – and that is something Deputy Berry says needs fixing.
He says: “If a commercial airliner loses its communications, the standard procedure is to scramble a couple of fighters, intercept, look in the cockpit and make sure the pilots are still awake, there hasn't been a decompression or they're asleep or they're unconscious.
And if the comms are down, you can give a hand signal and tell them it's just tweak your frequencies there and get in touch back with air traffic control – that is standard practice all over the world. We of all countries should have an air policing service.
“The link between North America and Europe is right over Ireland - it is ground zero and the flight paths are very, very busy here. It is not safe to have Russian Bear aircraft with their transponders turned off deliberately flying up and down our flight paths. It’s an air collision waiting to happen.
“I just hope nobody we know are in the aircraft when it does happen because it is a flight safety issue as well as the a defence issue. That's just the air side of the house but it just shows how negligent and indifferent we are to our own responsibilities.”
The government is now implementing level of ambition two from the 2022 commission on the Defence Forces – which called for ground radar, but no military jets. But Deputy Berry says it is vital to purchase jets - even if the cost is likely more than €1 billion, “It would bankrupt country not to do it,” he says.
“Look at Sweden. They would regard the national security and the safe and secure environment as the bedrock of their economy. You can't have an economy unless you have a sustainable, safe environment that people are happy enough to invest in. Unfortunately, we're really exposed.”
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