Key report: The UK should increase its naval and air presence in Northern Ireland and reclaim its strategic interest in the province

On a day when Rishi Sunak and the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar are in Northern Ireland after the election of a Sinn Fein first minister, the Policy Exchange document is critical of “persistent Irish security freeloading” amid rising international threats.

In the report, backed by two former UK defence secretaries and former head of Nato, the influential Policy Exchange organisation – which is respected in Downing Street – says that with Saturday’s restoration of Stormont “the time is right to focus on the wider issues surrounding British-Irish security relations”.

The report not only makes embarrassing reading for Mr Varadkar, but comes after the publication of the government’s command paper ‘Safeguarding the Union’ in which the government has – in effect – made clear that it is no longer neutral on Northern Ireland as part of the UK, a position demanded by Irish nationalists.

The report, backed by former defence secretaries Rt Hon Sir Michael Fallon KCB and Rt Hon Lord Robertson of Port Ellen KT, says that the present geopolitical challenges “require the UK to rediscover the strategic importance of Northern Ireland to its national security”.

Lord Robertson, who is also a former secretary general of Nato, and Sir Michael say they “welcome this new report from Policy Exchange, which powerfully reasserts the strategic importance of Ireland, and especially Northern Ireland, to the UK’s national security … Russian intelligence ships and warships have been identified off the Irish coast and close to key transatlantic cables. The growing Russian, Iranian and Chinese presence in the Republic poses a backdoor threat to the United Kingdom itself.”

Scroll down for more on this story. Click here for a News Letter editorial welcoming the report

The report says the UK “no longer has an adequate Royal Navy and RAF presence in Northern Ireland to police the Western Approaches, and out into the Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap”.

And it adds: “The Republic’s Defence Forces and security apparatus remain entirely inadequate, the result of a defence budget of less than 0.5% of GDP since 2000. With polling indicating that Sinn Fein is a serious contender in the 2025 election, there seems little prospect of the Republic’s performance on security issues improving any time soon. The party’s longstanding hostility to the UK, and opposition to firmer Irish commitment to Western security, mean that any government it leads will be no friend to British interests.”

The report is highly significant because London has made clear in the recent deal that it is no longer neutral on Northern Ireland. And it comes as Rishi Sunak flew into Ulster and said yesterday that Stormont’s focus should now be on “delivering for families and businesses across Northern Ireland”, after power-sharing was restored. The prime minister last night visited the headquarters of the Air Ambulance in Co Antrim.

In a foreword in support of the report, Sir Michael and Lord Robertson write: “As defence secretaries in different governments at different times, we know that little attention was paid to the security of the island of Ireland in the immediate aftermath of the Cold War.”

Policy Exchange author Marcus Solarz Hendriks comments: “With Russia increasingly probing the vulnerability of transatlantic maritime infrastructure, the UK must take action to police its northwestern waters.

“As the Republic remains an unable and unwilling partner in the face of this threat, the UK government must take matters into its own hands by restoring its air and naval presence in Northern Ireland. The penetration of Irish society by Russia, China and Iran also raises grave concerns over a back-door threat to the UK. The UK cannot do the job of the Irish state for it but – by fundamentally changing the nature of Northern Irish security arrangements – it will send a strong signal to the Republic that our patience for its evasive commitment to collective security has worn thin.”

The Policy Exchange’s report was released today with a summary that proposes the following recommendations:

• The UK no longer has an adequate Royal Navy and RAF presence in Northern Ireland to police the Western Approaches, and out into the Greenland-Iceland-UK Gap. "This leaves our critical maritime infrastructure wide open to Russian meddling. To restore our deterrence and defence, the Government must re-establish sufficient Northern Irish air and naval facilities to run regular maritime patrol missions around the northwestern flank.”

• Scottish bases are over-stretched to protect the UK’s northern flank single-handedly. A restored strategic presence in Northern Ireland would alleviate this burden, whilst complicating Russian decision-making by offering two platforms for defensive deployment.

• For decades, the Republic has scarcely contributed to the collective security it enjoys with its partners. By moving unilaterally to defend its western flank, the UK will signal to the Republic that the status quo security arrangement is no longer acceptable. The Government should point to its Northern Irish naval and air expansion, and the mutual external threats both countries face, to urge the Republic to expedite its military and security reforms.

• The UK is not alone in being threatened by Irish intransigence over collective security, which compromises the security of all transatlantic maritime infrastructure. As the UK and its allies continue to invest more time and money into protecting this infrastructure, frustration at Irish reluctance is mounting. The UK Government should coordinate a united front, amongst regional partners with joint strategic interests in transatlantic maritime security, to push the Republic to play its part.

• The Republic can no longer opt out of defending the world order from which it benefits. Indeed, it is already being probed as the potentially weak underbelly of the transatlantic community. The long-term goal must be for the Republic to integrate properly into the multilateral security initiatives which defend that community. When the Republic proves its newfound commitment to collective security, by developing a robust military and security apparatus, the UK Government should encourage it to participate further in multilateral initiatives, such as the Joint Expeditionary Force.