Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan invoked “aid to the civil power” and asked the Defence Forces to deploy heavy vehicles to remove vehicles from roads and fuel depots. The Commission on the Defence Forces made 130 recommendations. And yet the Defence Forces has been asked to tow a Fendt away from the Whitegate refinery. How does the Minister for Defence go to the Dáil next month and argue for increased recruitment and better pay – the things the Defence Forces desperately need? It can’t warn Brussels about subsea cable sabotage in March and threaten to deploy the Defence Forces’ manpower against John Deeres in April.

Source: The Irish Times April 09, 2026 18:01 UTC