The British Ambassador to Ireland has said it is hugely important that Britain and Ireland work together at sea to protect subsea cables from people who would want to do them harm.
Kara Owen was speaking during a visit of a British naval vessel to Dublin where it took part in a maritime exercise with the Irish navy’s LE James Joyce.
The British navy’s HMS Somerset, which arrived into Dublin Port yesterday evening is an anti-submarine warfare vessel equipped with guns, long-range missiles, an air defence system and a helicopter.
The British navy’s HMS Somerset arrived into Dublin Port yesterday
Its crew of around 200 have travelled 15,000km since March from the Arctic Circle to the Azores monitoring submarines and vessels from the Russian shadow fleet, including one which was later intercepted by France.
Ireland and Britain have had a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on defence since 2015 and the visit of the HMS Somerset comes in the wake of a recent renewal in that agreement.
Kara Owen, British Ambassador to Ireland said Britain and Ireland share a strategic space in which collaboration is hugely important.
Kara Owen British Ambassador to Ireland
“Something like 99% of all data for Europe goes through cables in our waters. It’s really important that for our economy that we protect those against people or countries that would want to do them harm.
“So, it’s really important that we’re collaborating in that area. There’s a focus on cyber, there’s a focus on capability development, as well as what we do in the air domain as well.”
Matt Millyard, Commanding Officer of the HMS Somerset said the crew have had a busy time at sea since March, monitoring the activities of submarines and vessels from the Russian shadow fleet.
“We always maintain a working plot of where the submarines are that operate in the North Atlantic. There’s several reasons for that, and the primary one is defence of our nuclear deterrent.
“The other is the understanding of who is where and what they’re doing, particularly in defence of critical national infrastructure, such as pipelines or undersea cables.
“Maritime security is a multinational effort and we have to work closely with our neighbours and partners to achieve it.
“This visit today is just hopefully a contribution to strengthen the ties between particularly the Royal Navy and the Irish Navy, but also the more general UK and Ireland in defence of our maritime domain.
Matt Millyard, Commanding Officer of the HMS Somerset
“Both our economies and societies rely heavily on our undersea infrastructure, be that our oil and gas pipelines or internet cables that come across the Atlantic or to Europe, and we need to work together to defend that.
“We were operating with the Irish naval vessel James Joyce yesterday, hopefully we’ll be able to do some more of that in the future.”
International security co-operation will be key during Ireland’s presidency of the EU which begins on 1 July.
Tony Cudmore, retired brigadier general with the Irish Defence Forces said international agreements such as the MOU allow Ireland to call upon other countries such as the UK for security assistance if required.
“Navies, in a sense, speak to each other and open up these lines of communication which enables them then to ensure that, should there be a crisis, that they have the capacity to both communicate, to understand, and perhaps, if necessary, to share a response to a challenge, which may occur.
“So they’re very, very valuable opportunities, not just in the context of the UK, but also in the context of our other Atlantic partners, both Canada and the US, and obviously our European Union partners as well.”
The Department of Defence said Ireland’s new Maritime Security Strategy highlights the importance of strong regional partnerships and international co-operation in dealing with evolving threats particularly to critical subsea assets.
It said the renewed MOU between Ireland and Britain enhances co-operation and improves our overall maritime security.