British warships providing air defence to Ireland during its EU presidency will not be allowed to enter its territorial waters.

The Irish constitution requires British and French ships to stay 14 miles out to sea, despite Dublin requesting extra security support to help protect a meeting about the war in Ukraine.

Ireland has also received legal advice that the ships would not be allowed to fire over Irish territory when neutralising airborne threats such as drones.

Britain will deploy a Royal Navy air-defence frigate in the Irish Sea when EU foreign and defence ministers are expected to meet in Co Wicklow next week.

The event’s security arrangements, which were revealed by The Irish Times on Thursday, are a result of legal advice from Ireland’s attorney general.

The Irish military is expected to work around the legal advice by stationing an Irish liaison officer on board the British ship to give the final authorisation to fire long-range weapons if necessary.

Freeloading on the UK for security

Article 15 of the Irish constitution states that only its parliament can raise military force on Irish territory, meaning British officers must stay out of Ireland’s territorial waters.

The workaround with the liaison officer is designed to circumvent rules of engagement, which dictate that the use of force can only be authorised by Irish officers.

The legal advice risks reopening British accusations that Ireland is freeloading on the UK for its own defence.

The Irish naval service has eight vessels, but because of a long-standing staffing crisis, it can only deploy two to three ships at any time.

Dublin announced it would spend a record £1.29bn on defence this year, an 11 per cent increase from 2025. It currently spends about 0.2 per cent of GDP on defence, which is the lowest in the EU.

However, the British warships do not need to be in Irish territorial waters to provide air defence.

On July 1, the first day of Ireland’s six-month presidency of the EU, the French frigate Aquitaine was stationed just outside the 14-mile limit during a summit of European prime ministers and presidents.

The Irish Times reported that an Irish naval officer had been on the bridge of the Aquitaine during the deployment, which was an open secret because the ship was visible to aircraft passengers flying into Dublin.

As a neutral country, Ireland is not part of Nato, which has complicated security arrangements. It does not use Nato-level radio communications, forcing the French to borrow Irish radios, according to The Irish Times.

The Telegraph’s requests for comment from the Irish authorities have gone unanswered.

Ireland does not use Nato-level radio communications, meaning the French have had to borrow Irish radios.

There was a security scare during Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit to Ireland in December last year. An investigation was launched after unidentified drones were flown near the Ukrainian president’s flightpath.

The Telegraph has approached the Ministry of Defence for comment.

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