Sir, - John Nolan of the Department of Defence (October 19th) unwittingly, maybe, emphasises the points that I made in my letter of October 16th. By way of example, three batteries of 105mm light guns (artillery weapons, not infantry as he described them) are enough to equip one artillery regiment. There are three artillery regiments on the Permanent Defence Force establishment. The acquisition of 40 Piranha wheeled APCs is not enough to equip even one infantry battalion, let alone a battalion group, in order to place it "seamlessly" in a multinational brigade. The present holding of wheeled armour is at least 25 years old and he was silent on any programme of replacement.
The "unprecedented" added spending of which we are informed is precisely because of the parsimony of successive Irish governments, which was my primary criticism.
I accept, of course, that much is being done as a result of the Price Waterhouse Report, the implementation plan and the White Paper of February this year. However, it is clear that much, much more is required in order to produce three well-equipped and trained brigades, which is a choice that Government itself has made. - Yours, etc.,
Christopher Dorman O'Gowan, Broad Chare, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England.