They are the foundation of the Internet, keeping everything from Tiktok to emergency services, businesses, banking systems, and political and military communications running smoothly.
But deep under sea, the network of cables around the British and Irish coasts are seen as increasingly attractive targets for military, terrorist or criminal actors after several incidents in the Baltic where internet cables were cut and disrupted. Internet communications.
With 75% of all transatlantic cables passing through, or close to, Ireland, it has outsized strategic importance in relation to the UK and Europe.
Since the cutting of cables between Finland and Estonia two years ago, and another incident in November severing links between Finland and Germany, and Sweden to Lithuania, questions are being asked about who exactly secures the seabed in Ireland’s territorial waters and its exclusive economic zone (EEZ) that extends 230 miles beyond a nation’s shores.
Ireland is not in NATO and has no submarines, and operates a policy of neutrality, with one of the smallest defense forces in Europe, spending less than countries including Croatia, Slovakia or Portugal.
Gerard Craughwell, an Irish senator who has campaigned on defense issues for the past decade, told The Guardian that it is time for the Irish public to realize that the country’s neutrality is not a shield in war or criminality. modern.
“It is our economy, the economies of Europe are at risk. But our public has been led to believe that because we are loved around the world, no one would attack us.
“I find it deeply worrying that we are selling this nonsense to the public that neutrality means we cannot defend ourselves.
Craughwell added: “If a rogue actor removes the cables it could have a catastrophic effect not only on our economy but also that of the UK and Europe.
“EU countries are not happy with the open flank that is Ireland and Ireland has simply not stepped up,” he added.
With $10TN in financial transactions a day passing over undersea cables globally, the stakes are high, said the European Subseuar Cable Association which also points to everything from Tiktok videos to emergency services that rely on the cable network for data transfer.
Craughwell is lobbying the government on several fronts and has taken it to the High Court to try to establish whether there is an alleged secret informal agreement with the UK allowing the Royal Air Force to intercept any hostile flights over Irish airspace.
That case is due in court in February. An Irish government spokesman said it does not comment on national security matters, but all defense policies “are carried out with full respect for the Constitution, Irish sovereign decision-making authority and the country’s policy of military neutrality.” Ireland”.
Micheál Martin, the incoming Taoiseach, has recently acknowledged that Ireland faces “new and emerging threats” due to its role as a gateway for subsea infrastructure. “The potential risk implications are stark,” he said at a conference on the topic in Valencia in October.
Irish and Icelandic defense representatives met in December Discuss maritime security and the Irish Government is developing a maritime security strategy.
Jacqui McCrum, the Secretary General of Ireland’s Department of Defence, acknowledged that “the waters of Ireland and Iceland host critical infrastructure that is of national and global importance”, adding neither state is immune to world events just because of isolation. geographical.
Sturla Sigurjónson, the ambassador of Iceland to Ireland, as well as the United Kingdom, Malta, Jordan and Qatar, and McCrum committed to continued security collaboration.
Robert McCabe, an academic specializing in underwater infrastructure security and government, said Ireland currently has inadequate resources to monitor or respond to potential threats “with resources for only one or two vessels to be at sea in the event of an attack.” .
“There is probably no frontier country in Europe that invests so little, or has invested so little for so long in defense infrastructure as Ireland,” he said.
“I think it’s in everyone’s interest that this infrastructure is secure and monitored, and people understand what kind of threats it faces,” the Coventry University assistant professor added.
Eoin McNamara, a global security and governance researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs, said Russia has been mocking Ireland, not only because it is considered a threat to the Kremlin but because of its geographical proximity to Britain.
The whereabouts of the cables are well plotted, so it was all about intimidation. “Not only were they thinking about Ireland, they are thinking about Britain and other North Atlantic nations, many of which support Ukraine. They’re saying ‘You’re projecting power at our doorstep by fueling Ukraine’s weapons, so we can also, in a different hybrid way, project power at your doorstep and give you something to think about,'” McNamara said.
According to McCabe, “the best way to defend neutrality is to have a defense force.” Craughwell agrees, adding that the Irish government needs to start an honest debate with the public.
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“We need to have an adequately resourced defense force with modern aircraft, vessels, underwater surveillance capability, sonar, primary radar and a rapid response plan that can immediately respond to a threat from Russia or anyone else,” he said.
Ultimately, Ireland needs at least three naval bases in Dublin, Donegal and Wexford, with three or four ships at sea at any time, he said.
“I think we need a formal role and agreement with all the countries facing the Atlantic: Ireland, the United Kingdom, the Nordics, France, Spain, Portugal, Iceland,” he said.
McNamara described Ireland as “kind of a crack or weak link” in the European landscape without the apparatus on its naval vessels to monitor the seabed.
“Dublin is a strategically important city in terms of supply chains and data centres, and conducting offshore drills is about intimidation. “It’s saying ‘we can get to the important connections for the European economy,'” he said.
Ireland had already been on high alert since a Russian spy ship, the Yantar, was stationed for several hours in the Irish Sea in November, operating drones and surveillance equipment. The same ship entered UK waters on Monday this week, but did not loiter on this occasion as it was closely tracked by the Royal Navy. UK Defense Secretary John Healey told the Commons on Tuesday that the Yantar was a Russian ship involved in “mapping the UK’s critical underwater infrastructure”.
Experts have said it would be a mistake to suggest that a sabotaged cable could lead to a catastrophic blackout of the Internet given the vast ability to divert data flows to continent cables. But that, McNamara said, would be missing the point.
“If you can’t police, you don’t have evidence, you can’t bring anyone to justice,” McNamara said.
Questions about protecting undersea cables are not limited to Ireland, McCabe said, with a phenomenon known as “sea blindness” studied by academics, which refers to the lack of political traction that invisible undersea infrastructure has in public discourse. .
He said the infrastructure is routinely maintained by the private companies that own the cables and this has not been a problem. But in the case of a terrorist attack, private sector personnel would not be expected to investigate, collect evidence or, in the worst case, enter a hostile environment where they could be attacked.
“There has to be an investment in the Navy. Defense forces are important, and particularly for a neutral country,” McCabe said, adding that infrastructure would become even more critical with the expansion of offshore wind forests.
“We are talking about the country’s energy supply. If someone wanted to do something, there must be some kind of deterrent. There is a need to monitor and understand if there is an escalated threat,” McCabe added.
McCabe said it “makes sense” for a country with a small navy and large maritime space to cooperate more with countries with larger and more active navies.
In response to a number of questions, Ireland’s Department of Defense said it was participating in a number of security programmes, including six EU permanent structured cooperation projects, including those focusing on critical infrastructure protection, updating maritime surveillance and measures to counter underwater mines.
He is also a member of the Maritime Surveillance Project of the European Defense Agency and a member of the NATO Partnership for Peace Forum since 1999.