Russia could use the waters of a united Ireland to launch missile attacks on Britain, a former Royal Navy Commander has argued. 

Retired Rear Admiral Chris Parry briefed the British Parliament that Irish unity would require a radical reassessment of London’s assumptions on defence. 

Mr Parry noted that the waters around Ireland are “becoming of interest” to Russia and China, in part thanks to the weaknesses of the Irish Naval Service. 

He added this leaves Britain “vulnerable” in a number of ways. 

 “There’s an issue associated with Russian submarines [being] able to fire both supersonic and hypersonic missiles from the west of Ireland,” he argued on Newstalk Breakfast. 

“And Ireland itself gives screening to those missiles, such that they’re not able to be seen until the last minute. 

“There’s a real problem there.” 

A Russian warship. Picture by: Alamy.com.

If Ireland were to unify, Mr Parry noted this would create problems for Royal Navy's fleet in the Atlantic. 

“If you have a united Ireland, the roots of our ballistic missile submarines become compromised coming out of Faslane [Naval Base in Scotland],” he said.

“[They] have to go out through the North Channel and if you have a united Ireland, it means that you don’t have control of both sides of a very narrow seaway.” 

A Russian battleship in the Baltic Sea. Picture by: Nikolay Tsuguliev / Alamy Stock Photo.

Mr Parry continued that he was also concerned about the ability of hostile States to sabotage Western Europe’s infrastructure, noting that 75% of transatlantic cables go through Irish waters. 

“The more you put renewable energy out there, the more it’s going to attract the sort of threats that we’re seeing in the Baltic at the moment,” he warned. 

“One of things I was saying was, you don’t have to massively increase capability in this regard. 

“One of the issues that has been going on since the late 1940s is whether unification is associated with NATO membership and things like that. 

“I think everyone assumes Ireland has to massively increase investment.

“Iceland doesn’t commit huge amounts of military forces but it does say, ‘In the event of conflict or war, we can be used for forward basing and we can be used for surveillance and overflight.’” 

The flag of NATO in Rukla, Lithuania. Picture by: dpa picture alliance / Alamy.com.

Mr Parry said he appreciates the “virtues” of neutrality for Ireland, he noted that both Sweden and Finland have given up their neutrality since the invasion of Ukraine.

He suggested NATO carries out a “lot more” exercises in Irish waters, something he believes would provide Ireland with a "measure of protection". 

Main image: Russian soldiers in Ukraine. Picture by: Sergei Malgavko/TASS/Alamy Live News