merrion street

The Minister with Responsibility for Defence, Mr. Paul Kehoe, T.D. today (Tuesday 25/7/17) visited the Defence Forces training centre in the Curragh Camp. On his arrival at the Camp the Minister was greeted by the Chief of Staff, Vice Admiral Mark Mellett and the Deputy Chief of Staff (Operations), Major General Kieran Brennan. The Minister also met with members of the Army Ranger Wing (ARW).

The Minister used the opportunity of the visit to receive a briefing from the Officer in Charge of the ARW on the roles, capabilities and operational effectiveness of the Unit. He was also afforded the chance to view ARW operatives preparing for a mission, to examine the wide range of equipment available to execute such a mission, and to witness a demonstration of the particular skills of the Unit in responding to a simulated domestic terrorism incident and a hostage rescue incident. The Minister then met with individual members of the Unit who spoke to him of their first hand experience of serving in a dynamic rapid response role.

Speaking about the visit the Minister said “One of the projects in the White Paper on Defence is to ensure that measures will be taken to further enhance the capabilities of the Army Ranger Wing with the aim of increasing the strength of the Unit considerably. I can assure you of my commitment to pursing these projects.

The Minister went on to say “I am satisfied that on-going coordination and liaison meetings take place between the Defence Forces and An Garda Síochána to ensure that the security of the State is given top priority. In recognising the dynamic nature of the security environment, initiatives to enhance and support interoperability include the development of agreed protocols, joint seminars on response to a terrorist attack and exercises on crisis management.

Speaking in relation to the new Government Security Committee, Cabinet Committee F, the Minister said “At the recent Government Security Committee meeting, we agreed that further exercises will be staged on a joint basis between the Defence Forces and An Garda Síochána, involving the fire service, ambulance service and other response agencies. As Chair of the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning I will continue to encourage and support such exercises.”