Relying on neighbours: foreign warships protect Ireland during dangerous times

The French frigate Aquitaine was hard to miss off Dublin, even after switching off the transponder that would normally reveal its position. The 142-metre warship arrived in early July to help protect visiting heads of state as Ireland took over the six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union.

A British frigate took up a similar position about 32 kilometres off the Irish coast ahead of an informal meeting of EU defence and foreign affairs ministers in Wicklow. Its location was hidden from open-source tracking systems, but the Merlin helicopter operating from its deck continued transmitting. On flight-tracking platforms, the aircraft appeared in the middle of the Irish Sea, flew several loops and briefly inspected a Portuguese cargo ship before disappearing from the same point.

Satellite imagery entered into open-source software showed a blurred object roughly the shape of a naval vessel. Its estimated length, 130 metres, closely matched a Royal Navy Type 23 frigate, a class typically equipped with 32 anti-air missiles and other weapons. The French and British ships had both been requested by the Irish Government.

Ireland does not have advanced long-range air-defence equipment of its own. The vessels positioned themselves beneath the flight paths used by aircraft carrying EU leaders to Dublin, with the main aim of preventing a repeat of an incident in December, when five drones were seen on the flight path of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s aircraft shortly after he landed.

Irish officials required both warships to remain outside the country’s territorial waters, which extend 12 nautical miles, or 22.3 kilometres, from the coast. The restriction reflected the Constitution and created a politically delicate arrangement for a neutral state relying on foreign military support. Military sources said it had only a limited effect on the ships’ ability to carry out their mission. EU ministerial meetings held in Ireland had so far passed without disruption, although the article’s account ends as it turns to the possibility of a security breach.