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Draft:Ireland–United Kingdom air defence agreement

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Ireland–United Kingdom air defence agreement
Map indicating locations of Ireland and United Kingdom

Ireland

United Kingdom

The Ireland–United Kingdom air defence agreement is an alleged secret agreement between Ireland and the United Kingdom which is is said to allow the United Kingdom to use its air force to defend Irish airspace.

Background

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Agreement

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Legality

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Content already written in another article

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The possibility of a hijacked airliner in Irish airspace would most likely result in a Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) response by NATO aircraft, and it is believed that there are secret agreements in place with the British government regarding the defence of Irish airspace.[1][2]

In 2016 it was reported in the Irish press that several years previously confidential agreements were made between the Irish and British governments concerning the protection of Irish airspace from terrorist threats. The reports revealed that the Irish Department of Defence, Department of Foreign Affairs and Irish Aviation Authority entered into a bilateral agreement with the British RAF, Civil Aviation Authority, Ministry for Defence and Foreign and Commonwealth Office permitting the British military to conduct armed operations inside Irish sovereign or Irish-controlled airspace in the event of a real time or envisaged threat of an aerial terrorist-related attack on Ireland or on a neighbouring country.[3]

References

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  1. ^ Lavery, Don (2 March 2003). "Government's secret plan to ask Britain for help if attacked". Irish Independent. Retrieved 3 March 2016.
  2. ^ O’Riordan, Sean (11 February 2015). "How much to protect skies above Ireland?". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  3. ^ O’Riordan, Sean (8 August 2016). "RAF tornado jets could shoot down hijacked planes in Irish airspace". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 4 September 2016.