Originally Posted by
Martin the Martian
I imagine that Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania should also get off their collective backsides and provide their own air defence rather than rely on the rest of NATO then?
Since they are in NATO, and Republic of Ireland is not, I find your post to be puzzling at best.
Ireland and their situation may be more like Costa Rica, who have no army. (Ireland has an Army, and they do contribute to some UN peacekeeping operations).
They have done a risk assessment and have so far found their risk versus expected result to arrive at "don't need an Air Force / Air Defense Fighters" for reasons peculiar to their situation.
Ticos are extremely proud of the fact that they have no army. Costa Ricans put effort into differentiating themselves from many of their more troubled and violent neighbors as well as their social, political, cultural, and environmental progressive policies. Civil war has not erupted in Costa Rica since 1948. In this same period, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico, and El Salvador have all had civil wars and poured a lot of money into their military. Similarly, Panama has had significant problems with a military coup in the 1980s, and only disbanded their army in 1996. Now, they are becoming more stable.