{"id":282790,"date":"2026-02-05T21:24:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T21:24:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/282790\/"},"modified":"2026-02-05T21:24:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T21:24:11","slug":"mcentee-signals-openness-to-us-military-equipment-as-part-of-irelands-defence-agenda-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/282790\/","title":{"rendered":"McEntee signals openness to US military equipment as part of Ireland\u2019s defence agenda \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Minister for Defence Helen McEntee<\/a> has said the Republic is open to buying military equipment from the United States as part of its prioritisation of investment in land, sea and air defences. <\/p>\n

Trade discussions have featured prominently during her two-day visit to Washington, where she met US trade ambassador Jamieson Grier and other members of the Trump<\/a> administration.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I am saying is that we\u2019re open and want to work with everybody here, that includes the US,\u201d she said on Thursday before a closing series of meetings on Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n

\"\"Should Ireland keep the Triple Lock?<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I think with some of our new strategies, there is an opportunity to collaborate and co-operate more. Look, I think what\u2019s clear here is that the relationship [between] Ireland and the US is incredibly strong and there is a trust there that has been in place for many years.\u201d<\/p>\n

She confirmed that the United States judiciary report accusing the European Union \u2013 and specifically the Republic \u2013 of censoring digital free speech, which influenced election outcomes, formed part of her conversations with Grier. She stressed the State\u2019s position that the regulations are designed to protect young people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there are certain elements of this that we don\u2019t agree on. And for me it\u2019s important that we engage on the areas we disagree on,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think what we all agree on is that, irrespective of whether someone is online or offline, they are protected. It\u2019s about engaging and looking at how we can resolve those differences and I certainly think there is a view from the US that perhaps, you know, we could not deregulate. There is an element of red tape that could be removed and Ireland has been very clear that that\u2019s something we want to see happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fallout from US president Donald Trump\u2019s contentious Davos<\/a> speech and the alarming threats regarding Greenland<\/a> prompted a conclusion that the State had reached the point where it must make a choice between an alliance with the EU or the US. During an address at the Atlantic Conference on Wednesday, McEntee dismissed that theory as \u201csimplistic, reductive and fundamentally incorrect\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cFirstly, I think that it\u2019s not the first time there have been differences or disagreements in policy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI accept that they have been more frequent and more visible in recent weeks and months alone. But that fundamentally doesn\u2019t change the fact that here is a relation[ship] that goes back 250 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

McEntee said that Grier and US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick<\/a> had made it clear that the EU would continue to be the US\u2019s most important trading partner. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think any commentary that we need to choose one or the other, it\u2019s simplistic. And it doesn\u2019t get down to the detail and day-to-day connections that are there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minister for Defence Helen McEntee has said the Republic is open to buying military equipment from the United…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":282791,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[969,1556,974,61,60,32643,43],"class_list":["post-282790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-donald-trump","tag-helen-mcentee","tag-howard-lutnick","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jamieson-greer","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=282790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/282790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/282791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=282790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=282790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=282790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}