AMBASSADOR KENNY'S CALL ON NEW DEFENSE MINISTER

C O N F I D E N T I A L DUBLIN 001790

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2014
TAGS: MARR MOPS
SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR KENNY'S CALL ON NEW DEFENSE MINISTER


Classified By: AMB JAMES KENNY FOR REASONS 1.4 B AND D


1. (C) On December 9, Amb. Kenny met with Willie O'Dea in
O'Dea's new capacity as Ireland's Minister of Defense. The
ambassador underscored the value of close U.S.-Irish
cooperation, especially in peacekeeping and information
exchange. The Ambassador urged Ireland to extend its mission
in Afghanistan beyond July 2005. He encouraged O'Dea to let
Irish defense personnel take advantage of U.S. training, and
emphasized that Ireland gains in the eyes of its EU
colleagues when its equipment, training, and field experience
are of the highest quality. He cited Ireland's purchase of
Javelin in that regard, and the performance of its
peacekeepers, especially in Afghanistan and Liberia. The
ambassador expressed his regret that Ireland had not selected
Sikorsky's Black Hawk helicopter, and made clear that the
U.S. expected Ireland's procurement practices to be fair and
transparent. O'Dea is still learning his brief and thus was
not yet prepared to go into issues in detail. That said, he
confirmed Ireland's pride in its peacekeeping abilities,
spoke with enthusiasm about his trip the week of December 13
to Liberia, where he and President McAleese will visit Irish
peacekeepers, and said he would be very interested in
exploring opportunities for more training/education. On
Sikorsky, the minister said that he had deliberately not
gotten involved directly, believing that the process must be
clearly free from politics. The Secretary General, Michael
Howard, said he believed the process of selecting a new
helicopter had been fair and transparent. He said the Black
Hawk exceeded Irish requirements and cost contraints. The
Ambassador sent the minister a letter following this meeting,
supporting Sikorsky's request for more information from the
GOI.
KENNY