Building-up Irish Defence: The Commission on the Defence Forces

The global security environment is changing rapidly. Not only are the threats greater, but they are more complex and more kaleidoscopic. Climate change, Cyber-threats, terrorism, as well as a revanchist Russia have made the world a more dangerous place to live in. To meet these challenges, the Irish Defence Forces are playing greater variety of roles in order to protect the Irish state and serve on crisis management missions. On 9 February 2022, the Commission on the Defence Forces released its report examining the threats the Irish State will face, and made recommendations ranging from funding, and capability acquisition to strategic HR, on how to enhance the Defence Forces. This panel discusses the Irish threat environment and analyses the recommendations made by the Commission in its report.   

About the Speaker: 

Renata Dwan has been the Deputy Director and Senior Executive Officer of Chatham House since 2020. From 2018 until 2020, she was Director of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) in Geneva. During her years in the UN, Dr Dwan worked on peace operations and complex emergencies in Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Mali and Syria.  

Ben Tonra is a professor of International Relations at UCD School of Politics and International Relations. There, Professor Tonra teaches, researches and publishes in European foreign, security and defence policy, Irish foreign, security and defence policy and International Relations theory.