Britain and Ireland will conduct joint live exercises to assess their preparedness for potential incidents impacting undersea cables, officials announced Friday. The exercises, slated to commence in September 2026, follow a commitment made by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Taoiseach Micheál Martin during a summit in Cork, Ireland.
The joint statement released by both governments cited “a more contested environment” and increasing activity from hostile state actors as justification for the enhanced maritime cooperation. The exercises will focus on information sharing and coordinated response mechanisms in the event of major disruptions to subsea communication cables affecting either nation.
The agreement comes amid growing European concern over the vulnerability of critical underwater infrastructure. A series of outages affecting power cables, telecom links, and gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea region since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine have heightened anxieties about potential sabotage and hybrid warfare tactics.
Ireland has applied to join a 2024 agreement on subsea security encompassing the North Sea region, which currently includes Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Britain, and Denmark. This move reflects a broader effort to bolster the protection of critical infrastructure in the face of evolving threats.
Last month, Ireland announced plans to enhance its radar and subsea surveillance capabilities and increase collaboration with NATO members, acknowledging growing hybrid threats in the North Atlantic. The announcement came as Ireland, which maintains a policy of neutrality, faced criticism regarding its limited capacity to monitor and defend its territorial waters.
During the Cork summit, Starmer and Martin also reaffirmed a commitment to a memorandum of understanding on security, vowing to protect subsea cables, critical underwater infrastructure, and combat cyberattacks. The leaders highlighted the importance of cooperation on energy security and reducing prices, noting that such collaboration was “more vital than ever, given current volatility.”
The UK government also announced £937 million in Irish investment into the UK, expected to create approximately 850 new jobs. This investment includes an energy connector project between Northern Ireland and Ireland, intended to lower electricity costs on both sides of the border, as well as a separate connector linking Wales and Ireland, capable of powering 570,000 homes.
The joint statement emphasized the shared economic ties between Ireland and the UK, with trade and investment valued at approximately €2 billion per week. Both leaders underscored the importance of cooperation in driving economic growth and securing a transition to a high-skill, low-carbon economy.
The two countries agreed to continue working towards the objectives outlined in the UK-Ireland 2030 Joint Statement, initially agreed upon at a summit in Liverpool last year. The statement details a renewed and strengthened relationship focused on shared prosperity, maritime security, and enduring partnerships.
