Alarm bells began ringing only when a Russian spy ship, the Yantar, began visiting Irish waters. Irish waters are busy: dense with shipping lanes, gas pipelines and transatlantic internet cables, which helped lure US tech companies to make Ireland their European headquarters. While its totemic neutrality is not up for debate, the days of Ireland’s slumber on defence are over. Ireland gained independence in 1922, but the British retained control of Irish waters until 1938. Last year, the Nato-critical leftwinger Catherine Connolly won a landslide to become Ireland’s president.