Aidan Farrelly
Question:24. Deputy Aidan Farrelly asked the Minister for Defence if she has spoken with the UK Defence Secretary to date in 2026. [15445/26]
View answerWednesday, 25 February 2026
Questions (24)
Written answers
With regard to defence cooperation more generally, 2025 marked the tenth anniversary of the Memorandum of Understanding on aspects of defence cooperation between Ireland and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which was signed by then Minister for Defence Simon Coveney and UK Defence Secretary Michael Fallon in 2015. In a joint statement following the UK-Ireland Summit in March of last year, Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Prime Minister Keir Starmer committed to “review and update the Memorandum of Understanding on Defence by our next Summit in this series” to “reflect the rebuilding and strengthening of our partnership”, and this remains a key intention of mine to progress.
While I have not yet had the opportunity to speak to my UK counterpart, Secretary Healey, yet this year, I hope to do so very soon.