24 February-March
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By David Burke
Understanding the MI6-NATO carrot and stick
PsyOp against Irish neutrality
A
n array of foreign institutes and
‘think tanks’ are claiming that
the Republic of Ireland is not
pulling its weight in defence
spending and should align
more closely with NATO.
This campaign is part of a psychological
operation (PsyOp) designed to shue Ireland
into a NATO proxy organisation called the Joint
Expeditionary Force.
It is perfectly reasonable to support either
side in the Irish neutrality debate. Neither
position is irrational. However, it is crucial that
the debate remain balanced and fair. Equally
important is recognizing the presence of
manipulative external influences and factoring
them into the discussion.
Unfortunately, some of these external actors
are dragging the debate into the mire and
deserve to be called out.
The players contributing to this campaign
so far include the International Institute for
Strategic Studies (IISS), the Policy Exchange of
London (a think tank), the British embassy in
Dublin, Chatham House (another think tank),
The Mail Online, Financial Times, The Daily
Telegraph, a veteran of the 77th Brigade of
the British Army (psychological warfare), and
a former ocial of the Ministry of Defence’s
‘communications’ apparatus.
There is a carrot-and-stick dimension to the
campaign. The stick involves castigating the
Republic for ‘freeloading’ on NATO, describing
the Irish as ‘stupid’ and hypocritical; the
carrot probably manifests as Washington and
Whitehall’s active support for a border poll on
reunification.
1. Donald trump sets the agenda
Donald Trump’s foreign policy has led to a sea
change in NATO. He demands Europe pay more
towards defence than previously. Since his
first term, he has complained about Europe’s
meagre defence budgets, protesting that the
US is being ripped o by freeloading European
nations relying on Washington for a security
blanket.
He wants Europe to increase defence
spending to 5% of GDP.
The European nations that have angered
Trump most are those maligned as ‘laggards’,
such as Spain and Portugal, who spend the
least.
The Irish Times has produced a string of
articles and opinion pieces echoing Trump’s
call for increased spending.
Trump also wants a lot more, including
dominion over Greenland, a semi-autonomous
region governed by Denmark.
Trump told reporters in Palm Beach, Florida:
“We need Greenland for national security”.
One reason is the presence of Russian naval
vessels: “If you take a look at Greenland, up
and down the coast, you have Russian and
Chinese ships all over the place. We need it for
national security. We have to have it”.
Denmark’s Prime Minister, Mette
Frederiksen, stated in January 2026 that if
Trump launches a military attack against
Greenland, it will mean the end of NATO. She
added: “I strongly urge the United States to
stop making threats against a historically close
PsyOp2026
NEWS
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ally, as well as against another country and
another people, who have made it clear that
they are not for sale”.
Trump wants everyone in the West to
spend more on arms. He is leading by
example. In December 2025, he announced
commissioning what he terms ‘Trump-class
battleships’ for the US Navy. They will be
larger, faster, and more powerful than previous
American battleships, featuring advanced
technology such as artificial intelligence and
laser systems. He plans a total of 20 to 25
ships in his ‘Golden Fleet’, partially funded by
$26 billion allocated by a defence spending
bill passed by Congress in December 2025.
2. Policy exchange
Pressure for Ireland to change its stance on
neutrality is building on multiple fronts. The
same logic Trump applies to Europe over
Greenland is being urged upon the Republic
of Ireland.
Two former British defence secretaries
voiced their concerns in February 2024 in
a document titled ‘Closing the Back Door’,
published by the pro-Tory British think tank,
Policy Exchange (PX). It was highly critical of
Ireland’s security policy.
Sir Michael Cathel Fallon KCB, co-author
of the foreword, served as Britain’s Secretary
of Defence, 2014–17. His co-author, George
Robertson, aka Baron Robertson of Port Ellen,
was the 10th Secretary General of NATO (1999–
2003) and Secretary of Defence (1997–99).
The document alleged “persistent”
Irish security freeloading just as “Russia
once more poses a maritime threat to the
Western Approaches to the British Isles.”
The introduction states that “for ideological
and financial reasons, Dublin has limited
itself to subpar participation in the European
and transatlantic security frameworks
designed to uphold collective prosperity and
stability. The unavoidable fact is that the ROI
grounded its security upon the transatlantic-
European economic and security order, whilst
freeloading o the significant investment of
others in protecting it, absent any Irish desire
to play a constructive part in the broader
Atlantic security system. This home truth was
admitted by Micheál Martin himself this year,
as he put the weak state of Ireland’s Defence
Forces down to the long-held view that the
ROI’s “geographic isolation on the periphery
of Europe [was] a source of security”.
‘Closing the Back Door’ asserted that “the UK
also faces a back-door threat from the growing
Iranian, Russian and Chinese presence in the
Republic of Ireland, a mounting challenge
for a chronically deficient Irish security and
intelligence apparatus”.
PX urged “the UK and its regional partners to
unite and up the ante in pressing Dublin to do
its fair share for collective security”.
PX is a registered charity that generally
refuses to disclose its funding sources and is
ranked as one of the least transparent think
tanks in the UK.
3. The international institute
for strategic studies (IISS),
nato and ireland
The IISS, an international research institute
based at Arundel House in London, has
also weighed in. The Guardian described it
as “one of the world’s leading security think
tanks”.
It features many US and British military and
intelligence luminaries among its ranks.
The IISS produces pro-NATO reports on
defence, security, and global aairs and
convenes security summits.
Jonathan Stevenson, aliated with IISS,
was a professor of strategic studies at the US
Naval War College (2005–16) and served as
National Security Council director for political-
military aairs, Middle East and North Africa,
at the White House (2011–13).
Stevenson has provided detailed insight
into what it might take to get Ireland to join
NATO. In an article on the IISS website, he
suggested a strategy to change Irish opinion:
“The upshot is that the Irish population
is ambivalent, arguably reluctant, but
convincible with respect to joining NATO. Given
the depth and potency of the tradition of Irish
neutrality, Irish membership would require a
constitutional referendum as a practical matter
if not a strictly legal one. For a government in
favour of joining NATO to win over Irish voters
suciently to prevail in a referendum, it
would probably need to secure the assent of
a majority of Sinn Féin as well as Fianna Fáil
and Fine Gael voters. This would call for a
frank and nuanced public narrative that placed
Ireland’s prospective NATO membership in the
context of both Irish history and contemporary
geopolitics, and detailed the practical changes
– including costs – that NATO membership
would entail. With respect to Sinn Féin, whose
core members remain invested in neutrality,
it would also require a significantly more
proactive national commitment to advancing
Irish unification.”
The IISS has close ties with MI6 and the CIA.
Sir Richard Moore, appointed Chief of MI6 in
2020, chose the IISS as the venue for his first
speech.
Mette Frederiksen
Sir Michael Cathel Fallon KCB
Sir Richard Moore, Chief of MI6, 2020-25
Arundel House
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4. The chairman of the IISS
joins the board of directors of
the Irish Times dac
In 2025, Bill Emmott, Chairman of the IISS,
was appointed to the Board of Directors of
The Irish Times DAC.
Emmott has a distinguished media
background in addition to his role at the IISS.
His appointment will surely open doors at the
paper to pro-NATO experts should specialist
guidance be required.
The Irish Times website omits any reference
to Emmott’s chairmanship of the IISS.
It is to be hoped, in the interest of balance,
that the paper will open channels to pro-
neutrality advocates. At present, it is failing
miserably in this regard.
5. The British ambassador
spells out the UK’s military
intentions and desire to work
with Ireland
In June 2025, Paul Johnson, then British
ambassador to Ireland, outlined British
military concerns and his government’s plans
to address them, in the Sunday Business Post.
Johnson has a significant NATO background
which must have been a huge factor in his
appointment as Ambassador to Dublin. He
joined the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in 1990
and moved to the Foreign Oce in 1993 as
Desk Ocer for Bosnia until 1995.
He was Deputy British Permanent
Representative to NATO (2015–16) and
Permanent Representative (2016–17).
He served as British ambassador to the
EU Political and Security Committee (2017–
January 2020) before being sent to Dublin that
September.
Johnson disclosed that the UK’s overall plan
was to ramp up military spending and that
Britain was “committed to developing” its
relationship with Ireland’s defence forces.
6. Financial Times
On 2 November 2025, a British “security
expert” revealed to London’s Financial Times
that an anti-neutrality campaign was underway
in Ireland, although “still far from fruition
and would have to be extremely carefully
managed”. The objective is to shue Ireland
into the Joint Expeditionary Force or a similar
body.
The paper explained that the campaign
“won’t be highlighted in any headlines...
There’ll be lots of complex acronyms and
policies quoted by poker-faced civil servants”.
Based on historical precedent, such an
operation would be run by a joint task force
comprising the Cabinet Oce, Foreign
Oce personnel drawn from MI6 and FCO
propaganda departments; ocials of the
Ministry of Defence (including 77th Brigade);
the Northern Ireland Oce; and other bodies
deemed useful such as MI5 (part of the Home
Oce). The CIA and NATO would also play a
role.
7. Some of these “poker-faced
civil servants” must be irish
The Irish government has no mandate to join
NATO.
So, who are the “poker-faced civil servants”
scheming to hustle Ireland into the Joint
Expeditionary Force? Clearly, some must
be Irish; otherwise, the operation would be
pointless. At a minimum, British conspirators
must have contacts within Irish Departments
of Foreign Aairs and Defence.
And who are the “two people familiar with
the conversation”?
8. The mysterious 77th brigade
The British Army’s 77th Brigade, based at
Denison Barracks in Berkshire, England, is
responsible for psychological operations
(PsyOps). In a 2018 speech, General Nick
Carter dubbed it an “information warfare”
initiative, giving the military “the capability to
compete in the war of narratives at the tactical
level”.
Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE
served as Assistant Director of British Army
Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance
(2007–10) based at HQ Land Command.
The Grayzone website reports that his
Twitter profile once revealed he served with
the 77th Brigade and worked with MI6 on
disinformation operations in the Middle East.
De Bretton-Gordon now supports the
campaign to end Irish neutrality. He told the
Mail Online on 30 November 2025: “‘Ireland
is absolutely a key vulnerability and probably
needs to start paying its way to ensure it is not
a vulnerability, not just for its own people, but
for the rest of us in Europe and NATO... They
need to start bearing the burden that the rest
of us are bearing at the moment. And they are
probably financially more able to do it than
most”.
He claims evidence “of the country being in
Putin’s sights are alarming. Besides multiple
sightings of Yantar spy ships in its 340,000
square miles of marine territory, Russian
hackers launched a cyberattack on the health
service in 2021, crippling computer systems”.
Since when was it established that Putin
ordered the attack on the HSE? If evidence
existed, surely the Russian ambassador would
have been expelled.
9. Chatham house
Those running the PsyOp must have a way
to deliver their themes, messages, and
psychological ploys to the public. This must be
done deniably, such as through clandestine
assets in the British and Irish media.
MI5 and MI6 have deep roots in the Irish
media. Their entry point was Major Thomas
McDowell, the dominant executive force
behind The Irish Times during the Troubles.
Chatham House is another conduit serving
MI5, MI6, and the Ministry of Defence.
Chatham House is where NATO generals, CIA
and MI5/6 operatives, PsyOp ocers, British
diplomats — even disgraced mercenaries
— gather in secret to discuss global military
strategy.
It also convenes less secretive seminars
and produces papers on security and defence
issues and recently has broadcast podcasts.
Occasionally, they invite an Irish journalist
or academic — but only if properly Chatham
House-trained.
The establishment was run by Eliza
Manningham-Buller, former Director-General
of MI5, until last September. Her replacement
is former Prime Minister, Baroness May of
Maidenhead.
Paul Johnson
Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE
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tactics may be used, including shame and
embarrassment. Such ploys sway those with
an inferiority complex, the easily led, and
people-pleasers.
Enter Commander Tom Sharpe OBE, unafraid
to tell an ingrate nation what’s what. He is the
naval correspondent for the Daily Telegraph,
but that is only part of his role.
Commander Sharpe is a former Royal Navy
commander and frigate captain and an ocial
of the Ministry of Defence’s ‘communications’
apparatus.
He is also a star at Chatham House.
Sharpe is a “freelance communications
consultant and partner at SPP.global, an
international communications consultancy
specialising in managing reputations and
capacity building for complex, often contested
organisations”.
One of Sharpe’s colleagues was a press
ocer for NATO in Afghanistan.
SPP claims to “employ scientific principles
coupled with military precision to achieve
desired outcomes. We deploy globally with a
small footprint, determine objectives, target
audiences, and optimum strategy, unlocking
potential using our scalable team or building
and training a unit to do it for you. This capacity
to identify those who matter most, understand
them, access them, and deploy resources with
precision gives clients the edge”.
Last June, Sharpe warned that the Corrib
gas field, 83 kilometres west of the Mullet
Peninsula, County Mayo, was vulnerable to
attack by Putin.
He was also indignant that a Norwegian
submarine-hunting aircraft had allegedly been
deployed to follow a Russian submarine in Irish
waters. He scoed: “Ireland has a GDP larger
than Norway’s — and yet here it is, reliant on
Norway’s real maritime patrol aircraft to help
defend it. The dierence is that Norwegians
are not freeloaders”.
His manipulative shaming continued: “the
Irish, who can’t do anything for themselves
or worse, can’t be bothered to and assume
someone will do it for them…”.
Hardly a week passes without a Chatham
House spokesperson appearing on RTÉ to
promote Whitehall’s point of view on some
international topic.
10. Buzzword
‘Freeloading’ has become a buzzword in the
British press regarding Irish neutrality. The
‘freeloading’ slur bears all the hallmarks of a
talking point drawn from a playbook prepared
by the puppet masters behind the PsyOp.
Ireland is “basically freeloading on the
rest of us, especially Britain”, according to a
‘senior former European diplomat’ quoted in
the Financial Times on 25 November.
11. Dastardly Waterford
fishermen
A group of dubious ‘intelligence’ ocers is
spearheading the PsyOp. This cabal is briefing
the press that Putin is recruiting Wexford
fishermen to aid his ‘hybrid war’ schemes.
The Sunday Times revealed that “Intelligence
services have received reports suggesting
fishermen in Wexford, southeast Ireland,
have been oered money to drag metal-
cutting objects across the sea floor at specific
coordinates” [28 December 2025].
The allegation lacks a single substantive
detail. Who are the fishermen? Who
approached them? How much were they
oered? How were they to be paid? Was the
approach made by Russians or imposters?
When and where did it occur? What are the
‘specific’ co-ordinates?
Multiple intelligence services reportedly
provided these briefings: MI6 (British Secret
Service), British military or naval intelligence;
Irish Military Intelligence; Garda Intelligence
(Special Detective Unit); and the CIA. At least
two agencies coordinated in briefing The
Sunday Times.
Not a single Wexford fisherman has stepped
forward to corroborate the claim.
12. Commander Sharpe
If Ireland cannot be frightened into softening
its support for neutrality, other PsyOp
As far as can be told, the Russian naval
invasion of the Corrib gas field has yet to
commence.
Sharpe quoted Micheál Martin, former
Minister for Defence, who said Ireland would
“never be in a position really to engage in [anti]
submarine warfare”. Sharpe asserted that this
“backward-leaning stance sits at odds with
[Martin’s] Defence Forces’ mission statement
for the navy, which states, ‘Defence roles
include defending territorial seas, deterring
intrusive or aggressive acts, conducting
maritime surveillance, maintaining an armed
naval presence, ensuring right of passage,
protecting marine assets’”.
13. Whitehall considers the
Republic of Ireland to be
part of Britain’s ‘sphere of
influence’
The British anti-
neutrality lobby
contends we are letting
the side down over
neutrality, a mindset
that presupposes we
are a part of Britain’s ‘sphere of influence’, not
an independent democratic nation.
One of the chapter headings of the Policy
Exchange document on Ireland refers to our
“Flimsy Contribution to Allied Security” [3.3]
as if Ireland was already a member of NATO
alliance, not an independent neutral nation.
The democratic choice of the Irish State
to remain neutral can infuriate the ocer
class in Britain, leading to intemperate
and intimidating language. The Financial
Times quoted a rather indignant “former UK
military ocial [who] was even blunter. This
[internet infrastructure] is Ireland’s cash cow.
And it’s taking the piss [over neutrality]” [25
November 2025].
14. A great success
Thus far, the PsyOp designed to erode Irish
neutrality is a roaring success, especially in
middle-class Dublin and among readers of
The Irish Times, which is bamboozling its
readership with anti-neutrality stories.
This is an abridged version of a 16,000-word
article appearing on the Covert History Ireland
and UK website, https://coverthistory.ie/
Left, Eliza Manningham-Buller
Right, Baroness May of Maidenhead
Commander Thomas Sharpe OBE
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