Defence Forces (Ireland)

The Defence Forces (, officially styled ) are the armed forces of Ireland. They primarily encompass the Army, Air Corps, Naval Service, and Reserve Defence Forces.

The Supreme Commander of the Defence Forces is the President of Ireland. All Defence Forces officers hold their commission from the President of Ireland. Still, in practice, the Minister for Defence acts on the President of Ireland's behalf and reports to the Government of Ireland. The Council of Defence advises the Minister for Defence on the business of the Department of Defence.

As of June 2025, there were 7,531 permanent personnel in the Defence Forces out of an established strength of 9,739, a decrease from September 2020 when there were 8,529 personnel, comprising 6,878 Army, 752 Air Corps and 899 Naval Service personnel. As of August 2024, there were also 1,720 personnel in the Reserve Defence Force out of an established strength of 4,069.

Role

The Irish state has a long-standing policy of non-belligerence in armed conflicts, including neutrality in World War II. Ireland's military capabilities are modest. However, the state has a long history of involvement in United Nations peacekeeping operations. Functions of the Defence Forces include:

Preparation for the defence of the state against armed attack.
Assisting the police force, the Garda Síochána, including the protection of the internal security of the state.
Peacekeeping, crisis management and humanitarian relief operations in support of the United Nations.
Policing the fisheries, in accordance with the state's obligations under European Union agreements.
Miscellaneous civil contingency duties requested by the government such as search and rescue, air ambulance provision, providing secure air transport for ministers, assistance in the event of natural and other disasters, ensuring the maintenance of essential services, and assisting in dealing with oil pollution at sea.

History

The Defence Forces trace their origins to the Irish Volunteers, founded in 1913. Their official Irish-language title, Óglaigh na hÉireann, is taken from the equivalent Irish-language title of the Irish Volunteers, as are their cap badge and the buttons worn on ceremonial uniforms (the buttons are still marked with the initials "IV").

The Irish Volunteers were central to the Easter Rising staged in April 1916. After the rising, the Volunteers gave allegiance to the First Dáil, the parliament of the revolutionary Irish Republic. At this time, the Volunteers became known as the Irish Republican Army (IRA). From 1919 onwards, the IRA waged a guerrilla campaign against British rule in Ireland that is now known as the War of Independence.

A truce in July 1921 brought hostilities to an end; the Anglo-Irish Treaty was signed on 6 December. The Provisional Government was then constituted on 14 January 1922. The IRA was divided between those who accepted the decision of the Dáil in ratifying the Treaty and those who did not: consequently, both civil war and re-occupation by the British became possible. In February 1922, the pro-treaty IRA became the National Army of the Irish Free State. The Forces were established on 1 October 1924. Allied aircraft were allowed to access the Atlantic Ocean via the Donegal Corridor. German military personnel were interned in the Curragh along with the belligerent powers' servicemen, whereas Allied airmen and sailors who crashed in Ireland were very often repatriated, usually by secretly moving them across the border to Northern Ireland.

During the Troubles, the period of civil conflict centred on Northern Ireland from 1969 to 1998, the Defence Forces deployed to aid the Garda Síochána. Troops were deployed for duty to the border areas, new border military posts were established, and in 1973, new permanent border units were established. In 1969-70, there were proposals considered for a limited military intervention in Northern Ireland to protect the nationalist community, known as Exercise Armageddon, but it was seen to be unworkable and was not adopted by the cabinet. Although units were moved to the border region in 1969–70 during the Battle of the Bogside, in order to provide medical support to those wounded in the fighting. In 1974, troops were deployed to maximum-security prisons in Portlaoise and Limerick where IRA prisoners were detained. Armed troops were deployed in 1976 to all major post offices during a three-month national bank strike. In 1978, cash-in-transit escorts were established to protect large cash movements throughout the state, continuing until 2014. The Central Bank of Ireland had the Government put in place contingency plans to provide armed Defence Force security for major Irish banks over public order fears if a cash shortage was triggered during the 2008 financial crisis. Tasks in military aid to the civil power continue today, but no longer to the same degree or intensity.

Current overseas deployments

As of March 2025, there were 428 Defence Forces personnel deployed to overseas missions and locations in 17 missions. The missions were: Department of Defence spending was 0.27% of GDP in 2020 and 0.29% in 2019.

In 2022, the defence sector budget was €1.1bn and in July of that year the Irish government announced plans to increase this to €1.5bn by 2028. As part of the plans to move to "Level of Action 2", as of 2022, the number of civil and military personnel was set to be increased from 9,500 to 11,500. Planning also began for improvements in radar capabilities. The Defence Forces specified the procurement of an integrated radar system for land, sea and air function and that the Army's structures and capabilities would be redesigned to meet "international best practice". The plan also proposed the establishment of an Office of Reserve Affairs to design a Reserve Defence Forces "regeneration plan".

The projected budget for 2024 was €1.5bn, including an extra €21m over previous expenditure and €34m in capital expenditure on top of the original capital ceiling of the National Development Plan. This also included budget for an additional 400 enlisted personnel during 2024.

{| class="wikitable"

! colspan="4" |Defence expenditure 1999–2019 as a percentage of GDP

!Year

!Defence expenditure €m

!Gross Domestic Product €m

!Expenditure as % of GDP

|1999

|760

|92,669

|0.82%

|2000

|820

|108,400

|0.76%

|2001

|731

|122,010

|0.60%

|2002

|725

|135,956

|0.53%

|2003

|711

|145,534

|0.49%

|2004

|733

|156,189

|0.47%

|2005

|759

|170,231

|0.45%

|2006

|772

|184,914

|0.42%

|2007

|817

|197,130

|0.41%

|2008

|880

|187,620

|0.47%

|2009

|804

|169,786

|0.47%

|2010

|744

|167,674

|0.44%

|2011

|704

|170,951

|0.41%

|2012

|657

|175,104

|0.38%

|2013

|667

|179,616

|0.37%

|2014

|673

|195,148

|0.34%

|2015

|671

|262,853

|0.26%

|2016

|671

|270,809

|0.25%

|2017

|681

|300,387

|0.23%

|2018

|701

|326,986

|0.21%

|2019

|756

|356,051

|0.21%

|2020

|781

|2021

|755

|2022

|802

|2023

|872

|2024

|908

|2025

|995

Organisation

The Defence Forces are organised under the Chief of Staff, supported by Deputy Chief of Staff Operations, and the Deputy Chief of Staff Support. They consist of a Permanent Defence Force (PDF), which is a standing force and provides the main capability for military operations, and the Reserve Defence Forces (RDF), military reserve forces which support the PDF if necessary. The PDF is organised into three service branches: the Army, the Naval Service, and the Air Corps. The RDF may be further subdivided into a First Line Reserve (FLR) and a Second Line Reserve; the First Line Reserve comprises former members of the Permanent Defence Force, while the Second Line Reserve comprises an Army Reserve and a Naval Service Reserve (both recruited directly from the civilian population). A reorganization of the RDF in 2013, referred to as the "single force concept", has resulted in units of the RDF being embedded within units of the PDF, rather than existing entirely in parallel as a separate reserve force; this moves away from the traditional approach of the RDF being considered a fourth service branch of the Defence Forces.

In January 2022, the Commission on the Defence Forces recommended the establishment of an 'Information Command', under the command of a general, to handle cyberattacks and misinformation.

Army

thumb|An Irish Army [[Cavalry Corps (Ireland)|Cavalry Corps Mowag Piranha Close Reconnaissance Vehicle on UN patrol in Syria]]

As of December 2023, the Army had approximately 6,136 active personnel,

Naval Service

thumb|Naval Service vessel

The Naval Service maintains a complement of approximately 725 active personnel Together with the Air Corps and Customs, it has intercepted a number of vessels carrying narcotics to and from Ireland.

The Naval Service has six patrol vessels (2xP50, 4xP60) which are operated in support of the service's primary roles, inflatable seagoing craft, and training vessels. It maintains highly-trained armed boarding parties that can seize a vessel if necessary. In 2019, for example, there were approximately 780 boarding operations and 12 vessels were detained . Rank-and-file members of the PDF are represented by the Permanent Defence Force Other Ranks Representative Association (PDFORRA), which is affiliated to the Irish Conference of Professional and Service Associations and to the European Organisation of Military Associations, EUROMIL. In 2009, members of PDFORRA took part in an Irish Congress of Trade Unions protest against the government's handling of the post-2008 Irish economic downturn, at which time the Department of Defence warned that Defence Forces members could not take part in or sponsor any "public agitation", and that PDFORRA had "no express permission" for members to take part in the protests. All ranks of the RDF are represented by the Reserve Defence Forces Representative Association (RDFRA).

Complaints concerning and made by serving and former members of the Defence Forces can be investigated by the independent Office of the Ombudsman for the Defence Forces (ODF), in cases where internal grievance procedures within the DF have been exhausted.

Bases

thumb|Ceremony at [[Cathal Brugha Barracks in Dublin]]

The Defence Forces operate a number of military bases:

{| class="wikitable"

!Name!!Location

|Defence Forces Headquarters (DFHQ)

|Newbridge

|Aiken Barracks

|Dundalk

|Casement Aerodrome

|Baldonnel

|Cathal Brugha Barracks

|Rathmines

|Collins Barracks

|Cork

|Coolmoney Camp

|Glen of Imaal

|Custume Barracks

|Athlone

|Curragh Camp

|Curragh

|Dún Uí Mhaoilíosa

|Galway

|Finner Camp

|Ballyshannon

|Gormanston Camp

|Gormanston

|Haulbowline Naval Base

|Cork Harbour

|Kilbride Camp

|Kilbride, County Wicklow

|Lynch Camp

|Kilworth

|McKee Barracks

|Dublin

|Sarsfield Barracks

|Limerick

|St Bricin's Military Hospital

|Dublin

|Stephens Barracks

|Kilkenny

Defence Forces (Ireland)

Role

History

Current overseas deployments

Organisation

Army

Naval Service

Bases

See also

Notes