The good news is that finally the Air Corps is getting some serious equipment that nearly justifies it existence. The bad news is that is in fact a €50 million toy to whisk cabinet ministers around the globe, to strut and fret their hour upon the stage, while perhaps yet another country vanishes from the world’s maps.
The new toy is a Dassault Falcon that can fly non-stop at 35,000 feet at 80% of the speed of sound all the way to Los Angeles, where no doubt some pressing national business will require the attentions of a minister or two and quite coincidentally, also enable them to attend the Oscars ceremony. Aviation laws will probably require two pilots to fly the Falcon, with perhaps two more on stand-by at home. In other words, the Air Corps is to be used to chauffeur politicians to exotic destinations, while the primary duties of the Irish Defence Forces – the armed and, if necessary, violent protection of our seas, our skies and our soil – remains as much a priority for the IDF (Irish Defence Forces) as the colonisation of Mercury.
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