Editing Defence Forces (Ireland) (section)

==History==
{{See also|Irish_Army#History|l1=History of the Irish Army}}

The Defence Forces trace their origins to the [[Irish Volunteers]], founded in 1913. Their official [[Irish language|Irish-language]] title, [[Óglaigh na hÉireann]], is taken from the equivalent Irish-language title of the Irish Volunteers, as are their [[cap badge]] and the buttons worn on ceremonial uniforms (the buttons are still marked with the initials "IV").<ref name="pictorial">{{cite journal |year=2012 |title=A Pictorial History of Óglaigh na hÉireann, the Defence Forces of Ireland |journal=Booklet |page=15 |publisher=Irish Defence Forces |asin=B00AEH38JE |url=http://www.smashwords.com/books/download/261660/1/latest/0/0/a-pictorial-history-of-oglaigh-na-heireann-the-defence-forces-of-ireland.pdf |access-date=17 March 2013 |archive-date=8 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808044816/http://www.smashwords.com/books/download/261660/1/latest/0/0/a-pictorial-history-of-oglaigh-na-heireann-the-defence-forces-of-ireland.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Irish Volunteers were central to the [[Easter Rising]] staged in April 1916. After the rising, the Volunteers gave allegiance to the [[First Dáil]], the parliament of the [[revolutionary republic|revolutionary]] [[Irish Republic]]. At this time, the Volunteers became known as the [[Irish Republican Army (1917-1922)|Irish Republican Army]] (IRA). From 1919 onwards, the IRA waged a [[guerrilla warfare|guerrilla]] campaign against [[British rule in Ireland]] that is now known as the [[Irish War of Independence|War of Independence]].

A [[Irish War of Independence#Truce: July–December 1921|truce in July 1921]] brought hostilities to an end; the [[Anglo-Irish Treaty]] was signed on 6 December. The [[Provisional Government of Ireland (1922)|Provisional Government]] was then constituted on 14 January 1922. The IRA was divided between those who accepted the decision of the Dáil in ratifying the Treaty and those who did not: consequently, both [[civil war]] and re-occupation by the British became possible.<ref name="The Defence Forces">{{cite web |url= https://www.military.ie/en/public-information/defence-forces-museums/defence-forces-history/history-of-the-army/history-of-the-army.html |title= Defence Forces History: History of the Army |access-date= 10 February 2020 |archive-date= 27 April 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200427081616/https://www.military.ie/en/public-information/defence-forces-museums/defence-forces-history/history-of-the-army/history-of-the-army.html |url-status= live }}</ref> In February 1922, the pro-treaty IRA became the  [[National Army (Ireland)|National Army]] of the Irish Free State.<ref name="The Defence Forces" /> With declining relations between the remaining units of the [[Irish Republican Army (1922–1969)|anti-treaty IRA]] and the newly recruited pro-treaty National Army, the [[Irish Civil War]] broke out on 28 June 1922. It ended in victory for the National Army when, on 24 May 1923, the anti-treaty [[IRA Chief of Staff]], [[Frank Aiken]] ordered his volunteers to dump arms.<ref name="The Defence Forces" />

On 3 August 1923 the new state passed the Defence Forces (Temporary Provisions) Act, raising "an armed force to be called Oglaigh na hEireann {{sic}} (hereinafter referred to as the Forces) consisting of such number of [[officer (armed forces)|officers]], [[non-commissioned officers]], and men as may from time to time be provided by the [[Oireachtas]] the new parliament of the Irish Free State."<ref name="DEFENCE FORCES (TEMPORARY PROVISIONS) ACT, 1923">{{cite web|url=http://acts.oireachtas.ie/en.act.1923.0030.1.html|title=Number 30/1923: DEFENCE FORCES (TEMPORARY PROVISIONS) ACT, 1923|access-date=23 December 2014|archive-date=21 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721130253/http://acts.oireachtas.ie/en.act.1923.0030.1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Forces were established on 1 October 1924.<ref name="The Defence Forces" />

The state was officially neutral during [[World War II]] but declared an [[The Emergency (Ireland)|official state of emergency]] on 2 September 1939, and the Army was mobilised. As the Emergency progressed, more and newer equipment was purchased for the rapidly expanding force from Britain and the United States as well as some manufactured at home. For the duration of the Emergency, Ireland, while formally neutral, tacitly supported the [[Allies of World War II|Allies]] in several ways.<ref name="Fanning">Fanning, R., 1983, Independent Ireland, Dublin: Helicon, Ltd.., pp 124–25</ref> Allied aircraft were allowed to access the [[Atlantic Ocean]] via the [[Donegal Corridor]]. German military personnel were interned in the [[Curragh Camp|Curragh]] along with the belligerent powers' servicemen, whereas Allied airmen and sailors who crashed in Ireland were very often repatriated, usually by secretly moving them across the border to [[Northern Ireland]].<ref name="Fanning"/> [[G2 (Republic of Ireland)|G2]], the Army's intelligence section, played a vital role in the detection and arrest of German spies, such as [[Hermann Görtz]].

In September 1946, the Naval Service was established as Ireland's maritime force and as a permanent component of the Defence Forces.

Ireland became a member of the [[United Nations]] in 1955. The first contribution to peacekeeping was in 1958 when Army officers were assigned to the [[United Nations Observation Group in Lebanon]] (UNOGIL). Since 1958 the Defence Forces have had a continuous presence on armed [[United Nations peacekeeping]] operations, except between May 1974 to May 1978 (although they did retain overseas unarmed observer missions during this period). The first armed peacekeeping mission was to the [[Operation des Nations Unies au Congo|Operation des Nations Unies au Congo (ONUC)]] in 1960. During the ONUC mission, a company from the Irish Army were involved in a [[Siege of Jadotville|battle at Jadotville]], in which the Irish held out against a larger Katangese force. A memorial to Irish personnel who served as United Nations peacekeepers was unveiled in 2009 in the town of [[Fermoy]], recording that there was a total of ninety Irish fatalities while on active service with the UN until that date.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/memorial-honours-irish-soldiers-who-died-on-un-duty-103128.html|title=Memorial honours Irish soldiers who died on UN duty|last=English|first=Eoin|publisher=Irish Examiner|access-date=17 March 2011|archive-date=26 February 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110226200526/http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/memorial-honours-irish-soldiers-who-died-on-un-duty-103128.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

During [[the Troubles]], the period of civil conflict centred on [[Northern Ireland]] from 1969 to 1998, the Defence Forces deployed to aid the Garda Síochána. Troops were deployed for duty to [[Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border|the border]] areas, new border military posts were established, and in 1973 new permanent border units were established.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} In 1969-70, there were proposals considered for a limited military intervention in Northern Ireland to protect the nationalist community, known as [[Exercise Armageddon]], but it was seen to be unworkable and was not adopted by the cabinet.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.historyireland.com/20th-century-contemporary-history/no-longer-standing-idly-by-irish-army-contingency-plans-1969-70/ |title=History Ireland |date=6 March 2013 |publisher=History Ireland |access-date=2015-06-20}}</ref> Although units were moved to the border region in 1969–70 during the [[Battle of the Bogside]], in order to provide medical support to those wounded in the fighting.<ref>Ireland: Being and Belonging page 131</ref> In 1974, troops were deployed to maximum-security prisons in [[Portlaoise Prison|Portlaoise]] and [[Limerick Prison|Limerick]] where IRA prisoners were detained. Armed troops were deployed in 1976 to all major post offices during a three-month national bank strike.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}} In 1978, [[cash-in-transit]] escorts were established to protect large cash movements throughout the state, continuing until 2014.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.rte.ie/news/2014/1129/663536-cash-in-transit-escort/|title=Armed escorts for cash-in-transit journeys withdrawn|author=<!--not stated-->|work=[[RTÉ]]|date=2014-11-29|access-date=2024-12-21}}</ref> The [[Central Bank of Ireland]] had the Government put in place contingency plans to provide armed Defence Force security for major Irish banks over public order fears if a cash shortage was triggered at the height of the 2008/2009 financial crisis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/politics/get-army-ready-to-protect-banks-central-banks-warning-to-taoiseach-during-crisis-30782109.html|title=Get army ready to protect banks: Central Bank's warning to Taoiseach during crisis|work=Irish Independent|date=28 November 2014}}</ref> Tasks in [[military aid to the civil power]] continue today, but no longer to the same degree or intensity.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}