Originally Posted by
Geriaviator
Not the same I'm afraid. The Irish 'subcontract' their defence but expect it for free. For all their bleating about neutrality they don't hesitate to call upon their neighbour on the other side of the Irish Sea. Such as the call last year when the Royal Navy was called upon to chase Russian vessels away from Cork. Not that the Russians/Chinese are interested in Ireland for the time being, it's a handy base for spying as it was throughout WW2, today it's the transatlantic cables they're after.
The details of the arrangement between Ireland the UK haven't been made public (they've barely admitted to there being an arrangement at all), and so no one knows to what extent it's 'free' or not.