Ireland

"Our revenge will be the laughter of our children." - Bobby Sands

The Irish factory Aughinish Alumina has been shipping the bulk of its product to Russia, despite claims from Dublin that the plant primarily serves the European Union, the Irish Times reported on May 30.

The new data undermines Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin's arguments against sanctioning the plant, Ireland's only producer of alumina, in the EU's next package of sanctions against Russia. Previously, Martin said restrictions on Aughinish Alumina would cause more harm to the EU than to Russia.

But in the first quarter of 2026, 83% of Ireland's alumina exports went to Russia, according to figures obtained by the Irish Times. This amounts to 200,619 tons, the largest exports since the outbreak of the full-scale war in 2022.

Origin date/time: Sun, 17 May 2026 12:08:58 Location: Lat/long: 52.089,-6.641 Depth: 3 km Magnitude: 0.8

https://inv.thepixora.com/watch?v=gZWb_iv6uSM

https://web.archive.org/web/20260424192143/https://www.thejournal.ie/ireland-israel-compensation-school-palestine-destroyed-7022442-Apr2026

“On completion of the ‘Wings’ course, students will be streamed into either fixed wing or rotary wing operations. The EC135P2+ is utilised as the main ab initio rotary wing training aircraft and the six-month rotary wing conversion course consisting of between 90 and 100 hours during which students will complete a variety of military rotary wing operations such as abseiling drills, cargo slinging, mountain flying and tactical formation.

“In 2025 Royal Air Force wings were presented to four Air Corps trainee pilots who passed their basic helicopter training at RAF Shawbury. The cadets began their 15 months training course of 140 hours, having never flown a helicopter.

...

EC135 instructor pilots receive regular flight and simulator training with Airbus Helicopters at Donauwörth in Germany. O’Connor told EDR On-Line that Air Corps personnel also pilot the Garda Air Support Unit’s two EC135T2+ helicopters, soon to be replaced by H145s, on a 2–3-year tour and it provides maintenance facilities at Casement on behalf of the Department of Justice.

Four Airbus Helicopter H145Ms have been ordered to replace the EC135s in early 2027 configured for multi-role operations including light attack, intelligence and surveillance, maritime security, and utility roles

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocopter_EC135

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocopter_EC145

Also see this article for context on the relevance of the H145

https://aerospaceglobalnews.com/news/airbus-ai-piloted-helicopter-h145-us-marines/