Is Ireland prepared for the EU Presidency meetings?

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

This podcast is sponsored by Talkspace. Ever feel like you're being pushed or pulled in more directions than you can even begin to process? When life demands more than you can give at work, in your relationship or at home, Talkspace can help. Talkspace provides convenient online access to therapy, psychiatry and mental health support. Just answer a few questions online and Talkspace will match you with a licensed provider in less than two days, with some even offering same day appointments. Chat with a therapist over live video, audio or messaging so you can get mental health support that fits your lifestyle and schedule. No taking time off work, no commuting to an office and no waiting room. Just support that meets you right where you are. Best of all, Talkspace is covered by most major insurance plans with an average copay of $15.

Get space when you need it with Talkspace. And now you can get $80 off your first month with promo code SPACE80 when you go to talkspace.com. Get $80 off your first month with promo code SPACE80 at talkspace.com. That's talkspace.com.

SPEAKER_2 (1:00)

The Hard Shoulder with Ciara Kelly and Shane Colman on News Talk with Kier.

Shane Colman (1:08)

We are joined by security analyst Declan Power. Declan, I wanted to talk to you about the warning from the Defence Forces that a lack of a national security strategy is putting the country at high risk of security threats. And of course, that comes ahead of next week's EU presidency meetings. But could I just very briefly ask you about events today across Europe, including an Aer Lingus flight and a flight from Cork airport and the bomb hoaxes that are there.

Do you have any doubt that this is a state-led agent at play here?

Declan Power (1:45)

Shane, good evening. It is all the hallmarks of a nation-state actor because of the level of planning and coordination that went into this.

And, you know, lest anyone be in any doubt of that, you only have to look at the structure of the layering of what's happened. We see the hoaxes taking place across Europe, a multitude of airlines, the one common thread being that they're all European Union entities. Then we saw the refrigeration units, which we shouldn't look at it just as refrigeration units, but we see there is an act of sabotage on a variety of elements that rely on operating technology, that they are vulnerable because of their connectivity to Wi-Fi and things of that nature. And then we see, before that, we've seen the acts of sabotage, such as the arson attacks in Germany, France and the UK, the sabotage at Leipzig Airport, if I remember correctly, then the drone swarming before that. So, there is a pattern here. And the pattern all adds up to one thing. The concept of hybrid warfare is to confuse and disrupt to the maximum with the minimum level of risk to the perpetrator.

Shane Colman (3:01)

Okay. So that's the backdrop in which we're going to have our conversation about the lack of a national security strategy.

How worried are you about that? How damaging potentially is that for Ireland?

Declan Power (3:14)

Well, Shane, the Defence Forces are absolutely right to point the finger at it. They would be remiss in their duty to their role as guarantors of the security of the state if they didn't. And it's very timely. It links in with what we were just talking about. Because effectively, no matter how much physical resources and kinetic resources you have in terms of defence of your state, you need a roadmap, you need a plan, you need an overview. And that's what we're lacking without a national security strategy. We have some pieces of the jigsaw in place. For example, the National Maritime Security Strategy that was unveiled about six months ago or thereabouts was a really good step in that direction. But it's more important now than ever before to have a national security strategy, because I think people are starting to come to the awareness at last. And we really need our body politic to do this.

Security is not purely the responsibility of the likes of the Defence Forces, or indeed the national security and intelligence elements within An Garda Siachona. It's a whole of government, a whole of state approach. And this has been proven in the terms of the threats, as we see them unfolding now to the European Union and indeed ourselves as members.

Hybrid warfare requires a whole of government response.

There might be aspects of it that become primarily the responsibility of defence or law enforcement or intelligence. But there are so many other elements. Every government department, I would argue, needs to be developing a strategy on counter-hybrid. In fact, we need to look at it the way we look at countering cyber threats. Every business in Ireland now realizes that they have to have a cyber security strategy. Or indeed the way we look at climate change. They're both equally as important and they're both an equal level of threat. Although with regards to hybrid warfare and the way it is evolving, and it is highly unpredictable, it's the more immediate threat at the moment. And so the hybrid nature requires a joined up approach. A joined up approach within the state with multi-agency, whole of government approach, and then a joined up approach at a regional level. And what needs to happen is a seamless agreement within the states, within Europe on the nature of the threat and how to respond to it. A strategy that everyone can plug into and then share resources because we're all interdependent on this. The interdependence is our great weakness, but it's also our great strength, depends on how we leverage it.