Another blog driven by connections. A while back, there was a comment from a radio listener to the effect that Ivan Yates, as a former Government Minister, ought to know that there is no such thing as an Irish Army – Ireland having a Defence Force. This was news to me. When I spotted this sticker on a car, it did prompt me to do some checking. The Defence Forces website does refer to the Army and not Irish Army. There does exist an ‘Irish Air Corps’ and an ‘Irish Naval Service’. The Irish Army does appear not to exist, except for Naval Service history page – which has enough typos to wonder whether the name is actually an oversight. | “Tracing its roots back to 1913 and the very founding of the state the Irish Army has played a massive part in the creation and development of the Republic of Ireland. However the states water’s were controlled by the British Admiralty from 1922 till 1938 when Great Britain handed back the Treaty Ports and control of Irish waters, to the Irish Free State. The government, in May 1939, ordered 2 Motor Torpedo Boats (MTB’s) from Great Britain. “ |