I have put the (?) in the title because this statement from the daily telegraph does seem somewhat fantastical, especially as they also say that naval coverage is added gratis.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/202...-its-airspace/
" After all, without an air force, Ireland is unable to monitor its own skies, far less police them. Under a once-secret defence pact between our countries that has been in place since the 1950s, the job of defending Ireland falls on the UK. British jets frequently have to get airborne to intercept Russian planes entering Irish airspace. The last thing we need is for the RAF to have to scramble on Christmas Eve to deal with an unidentified flying object over Dublin.Our aerial assistance comes without any price tag despite
Ireland being the second richest country in the EU by GDP per capita. Perhaps as a Christmas goodwill gesture, Varadkar could offer at least some reimbursement for the services of the boys in blue."
Is this really as true as the DT claims - or is/was there an unstated quid pro quo somewhere ? If this really was done for nothing when Ireland was a poor agricultural economy, why on earth has no government in more recent times told the Irish that they have to hand over some of that cash they got from abetting all the international tax-dodging schemes. Would anyone care to guess what this coverage costs the UK ?
I do recognise that there is some benefit to the UK in keeping Russian intruders that much further away from British shores.