Ken Foxe
More than 900 people from the Republic of Ireland applied to join the British Army over the past three years even as numbers serving in the Irish Defence Forces have fallen to historical lows.
Figures from the UK Ministry of Defence show that 824 individuals with a postcode in the 26 counties had sought to sign up for their regular forces during the last three recruitment years.
A further 115 were listed as having applied to become officers in the recruiting periods of 2021/22, 2022/23, and 2023/24 according to data that was released under Freedom of Information legislation.
In total, there were 941 people with an address in the Republic in the British Army’s recruiting group data, including two who signed up for the reserve forces.
The disclosure comes at a time when the numbers serving in the Irish Defence Forces are around 7,500, and up to 2,000 personnel below what is considered ideal strength to defend the country.
Recruitment crisis
Representative organisations like Pdforra have blamed the recruitment crisis on poor pay and conditions during a time when security threats to Ireland are growing.
The Department of Defence said: "There has been significant progress on pay in the Defence Forces. Pay rates, including Military Service Allowance, for the ranks of Private 3 Star/Able Seaman, in their first three years of service start at €39,714 in Year 1, rising to €41,125 in Year 2, and €42,425 in Year 3 of service with effect from 1 June 2024, the first increase under the new national pay deal. A graduate cadet on commissioning starts on a pay-scale, which includes Military Service Allowance from €48,990."
The figures for Irish enlistment to the British Army are small in the overall context of the UK forces, with the 278 applications for regular service last year making up around 0.28 percent of the 100,520 total.
The share of Irish applications to become an officer was slightly higher with 43 candidates, who made up around 0.39 percent of the 10,917 total.
There were a further 1,216 applications from people in Northern Ireland in 2023/24 to serve in the ranks or around 1.21 per cent of the overall total.
Another 208 people with postcodes in the six counties applied to become an officer in the British Army in the same period, or around 1.9 per cent of the total who sought to join up.
Security analyst Declan Power said there were well-documented issues around pay and general conditions that needed to be improved in the Irish military.
However, he said there were other transformative steps that could be taken: “The Defence Forces should take a leaf out of our neighbour’s book on recruitment and start targeting colleges and related areas to offer short service contracts, particularly in specialist areas like engineering, IT, medical-related disciplines and so on.
“Many of these candidates would plug gaps for a limited period and move on with useful career experience, while a significant number would opt to stay.”
He said it would be a “simple cost-effective solution” that would benefit the entire country.
Mr Power added: “The biggest obstacle would be cultural resistance both within the Defence Forces and the Department of Defence, but with good and innovative leadership, this can be overcome.”
Asked about the data they released, the British Ministry of Defence said they could not comment as they were “currently in [the] pre-election period”.
However, they have previously said there was a long history of non-UK citizens, including those from the Republic, serving in the British Army and that their commitment and service was greatly valued.
*Updated at 10.30am on Thursday, June 6th, 2024
