Ireland will send military officers to embassies in London, Washington DC and Paris to act as defence attaches, under proposals being brought to Tuesday’s Cabinet meeting.
The assignments are part of a pilot programme by the Government to increase military co-operation with other countries.
Defence or military attaches serve in embassies where they represent their countries’ armed forces, act as military points of contact and relay defence information back to their governments.
Unusually among western nations, Ireland has never before deployed formal defence attaches overseas, although officers serve in similar roles in EU and Nato military headquarters.
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Gardaí also send representatives to some international missions.
A number of countries, including the US and the UK, have defence attaches in Ireland.
If successful, the pilot programme, which is being brought to Cabinet by Minister for Defence Helen McEntee, could see the establishment of a broader network of defence attaches around the world.
Under the proposals, their roles will include “defence and security co-operation, and diplomatic representation”.
It is understood the attaches will come from the senior ranks of the Defence Forces.
The move comes a week after the publication of the Government’s National Maritime Security Strategy, which will see greater co-operation with the UK and French navies in maritime defence.
The Government is also forging stronger links with France in intelligence sharing and the acquisition of military equipment. This includes the purchase of hundreds of armoured vehicles, as well as sonar and radar systems from French arms companies.
There have long been calls for Ireland to establish a network of defence attaches in its overseas embassies. As far back as 1963, Ireland’s ambassador to the US Thomas Kiernan wrote to Dublin asking it to consider sending a military attache.
In 2015, the White Paper on Defence outlined plans for an exploration of the appointment of attaches to key EU member states and other countries.
The 2022 report from the Commission on the Defence Forces said international liaison and co‐operation between Ireland’s military and other armed forces “should be enhanced and strengthened with the immediate creation of a defence attache network”.
“This cohort of personnel, based in locations of strategic importance to Ireland, can provide vital and timely feedback on defence and security matters through both official and personal interactions, and should provide a valuable addition to a number of our diplomatic missions abroad,” it said.
