{"id":344947,"date":"2026-03-13T22:45:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T22:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/344947\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T22:45:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T22:45:14","slug":"ireland-uk-to-carry-out-live-exercises-after-leaders-agree-on-protections-of-sea-cables-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/344947\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland-UK to carry out \u2018live exercises\u2019 after leaders agree on protections of sea cables \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ireland<\/a> and the UK<\/a> will increasingly focus on maritime security cooperation to protect undersea cables after signing a renewed defence agreement, the Taoiseach has said. <\/p>\n

Speaking after the conclusion of the UK-Ireland summit in Fota House, Co Cork<\/a>, Miche\u00e1l Martin said the renewed memorandum of understanding means \u201cwe would coordinate more in terms of protecting subsea cables, protecting gas connectors and other connections under the water, which is critical to economic security\u201d.<\/p>\n

Martin<\/a>, who hosted UK prime minister Keir Starmer<\/a> and several members of his cabinet in Cork, said: \u201cWe know that certain elements have been observing cables and other vital infrastructure and so that\u2019s the context. And it\u2019s to protect that and to make sure we can respond effectively if an event was to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

A joint communique issued by the governments after the summit committed to \u201ctargeted maritime security activity and closer liaison between our defence and naval organisations\u201d.<\/p>\n

It said this would pave the way for potential procurement initiatives and establish a forum for sharing information and coordinating responses to major subsea communication cable incidents that may affect Ireland or the UK. A series of live exercises are to be carried out to test readiness, with the first scheduled in September. <\/p>\n

In opening remarks at the summit, Starmer also emphasised security cooperation and the new agreement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s got to be coordinated, we\u2019ve got to collaborate, otherwise we won\u2019t get strategically what we need when it comes to defence and security.\u201d<\/p>\n

He spoke about joint work on cyber and maritime security, saying it was \u201cvital\u201d to move that work forward, pointing to undersea infrastructure in the Irish Sea and northeast Atlantic. <\/p>\n

Also speaking after the summit, Minister for Defence Helen McEntee said the deal was \u201crecognising the changed security environment that we\u2019re living in\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said it respected Irish neutrality, sovereignty and territorial integrity, adding: \u201cWe\u2019re militarily neutral but we\u2019re not neutral to any of the threats that exist at the moment. The threat in our maritime domain \u2013 space that is seven times the size of our landmass \u2013 is there, it\u2019s real\u201d.<\/p>\n

The renewed defence agreement updates an existing 2015 deal, but McEntee said cooperation would now be \u201cmore targeted and focused\u201d. It would allow for a focus on maritime security \u201cin a way that we haven\u2019t before\u201d. <\/p>\n

The memorandum says both governments will \u201cexplore opportunities for joint procurement of military equipment\u201d and new government-to-government sales.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the air and cyber domain, the UK and Ireland will boost their information sharing, improve joint situational awareness, and increase resilience against threats,\u201d it notes.<\/p>\n

Asked if this would mean more British military activity in Irish seas or airspace, she said all activities would be governed by existing protocols, adding that if an issue occurs, \u201cthere would be support from the UK in the way that there could be support from other countries\u201d. The renewed deal was \u201cabout putting that structure in place\u201d.<\/p>\n

Both McEntee and Martin pointed to a cyberattack on the Cork-based medtech firm Stryker in recent days, which has been linked to an Iranian-backed hacker network. <\/p>\n

Starmer said that on Thursday night, RAF Typhoon jets had extended their actions intercepting drones heading toward Bahrain as well as Cyprus. <\/p>\n

Pointing to the fallout from the Ukraine war and the conflict in the Gulf, Starmer said: \u201cYou can see that when it comes to energy, our ability to collaborate and co-operate for energy security . . . is critical as we go forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

With an agenda focused on trade and security issues, as well as seeking a post-Brexit diplomatic \u201creset\u201d, both heads of government sought during public comments to emphasise co-ordination with allies in a time of international disruption. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Dramatic increase in number of Russian \u2018shadow ships\u2019 in Irish-controlled watersOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

During the visit, Starmer announced inward investments to the UK from Irish companies worth about \u00a3900 million (\u20ac1.04 billion). The British embassy in Dublin said this would create 850 jobs. Both governments pointed to trade flows worth nearly \u20ac2 billion a week between the two economies. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, about 20 pro-Palestinian supporters from the Cobh Palestine Solidarity Campaign mounted a protest at Belvelly Bridge, a few hundred metres from the entrance to Fota Island Resort where the summit was taking place. One woman, in her 40s, was arrested for public disorder and removed from the scene. She was later released without charge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ireland and the UK will increasingly focus on maritime security cooperation to protect undersea cables after signing a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344948,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[57092,61,60,1194,1843,43,1577],"class_list":["post-344947","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-brexit","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-keir-starmer","tag-micheal-martin","tag-news","tag-uk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344947","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=344947"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/344947\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/344948"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=344947"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=344947"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=344947"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}