Why does the Irish Republic operate a minimalist Military?

Alright boss? Was out in Chad a few months ago, nasty place.

The Irish ARE a warlike race, we're not called the fighting Irish for nothing.

"In my experience, the Irish, particularly those from the Republic, are man for man, better professional soldiers and war fighters than many of their counterparts in the British army" Lieut Col Michael McGovern

Irishmen have fought in every single conflict. Ever. But as a nation Ireland has no enemies. We could afford some of that lovely kit you mentioned, but how could you justify it for a country with no enemies in the middle of a recession? In the mean time we'll just stick to good oul guirella warfare.

The Irish ARW were out in Iraq a few years ago showing delta force how its done. Their's talks about a large deployment of Irish troops going to Afghan if Chad ends and the UN asks us.

You do know there is an Irish navy coastguard and air corp as well as an army? The aircorp is tiny the navy is 7 or 8 frigate type ships the coastguard have a few state of the art patrol ships but don't forget the navy did bust one of the biggest drugs operations afloat, 60million worth of cocaine was siezed this year. The army do hitch a ride of other countries, no point using limited resources when a Dutch hercules is going to the same place as you. The troops are everywhere the UN is operating a peace keeping force. The ARW (Irish special forces) has done stuff thats never been reported. A high ranking Irish general was recently awarded the Legion d'honor by Sarkozy himself. Not at all bad for a tiny country of 32 counties with supposedly no military.

My biggest regret is leaving it too late to sign up

There is no doubt that the Irish is a very war like race. Probably more than people know. As to their contribution to the British Armed Forces, put it like this:

Colonel Tim Collins (The Royal Irish Regiment and SAS) once said "The Irish have manned the British Army for the last 300 years"

This is not so stupid when all of the following were born and are from Irish decent:

The Duke of Wellington, Montgomery, Alexander, Auchinleck, and Dill to name but a few were all Irish, and up to a third of the British army in the 19th century were Irish.

Kipling once wrote "The Irish move to the sound of guns as salmon swim to the sea"

Also Paddy Blair Mane, one of the best soldiers of the second world war, and co founder, and later head of the SAS, was fiercely Irish. It was said that paddy should have won the Victoria Cross at lest three times for bravery.

And finally the last solider to be given the Victoria Cross was Irish and born Belfast.

However the Irish armed forces has a lot to be desired. It is very small only 10,500 (the royal marines have 7,000 and that is only one regiment). The equipment is very old or very scarce, as the Irish attack aircraft is a Pilatus PC-9 is a single-engine, low-wing tandem-seat turboprop training aircraft. Also Irish government in the second world war was very poor as it did not even send relief supplies to the British to help the war effort.

Nice country, decent people, no real enemies. You don't need a big army when that's how the world sees you. Of course, the only reason other countries need a big military is because they're essentially paranoid about the rest of the world (see United States of America; a nation which could cut its military budget in half and still field a highly formidable military.)

The Irish are indeed a warlike race; you bet your bottom dollar if Ireland was still part of Britain (no, I'm not suggesting it!) the British Army would be chock full of Irishmen because they like a fight as much as Highlanders do. The British side in the Napoleonic Wars had a huge number of Irish in them and along with the Highland regiments they were the backbone of the British Army for decades.

I would suggest, however, that since no one really threatens their coastline it would be financial stupidity to spend billions on those aeroplanes and ships you speak about.

A small country cannot afford a large army , and besides Ireland has no traditional enemies except the British and the likelihood of an invasion by Britain is non existent.

Possibly because they are officially a neutral country and feel no need for an expensive military.

Some of the answers so far reveal the Irish love of fairy tales is still alive and well.

Ireland has a tiny economy (like $250 billion), they can't go spending billions on their military. What would be the point anyway? They don't exactly have any enemies.