Ireland stops training for Maltese soldiers after staff shortages hit military college

Maltese soldiers will stop receiving officer training at the Irish Defence Forces Cadet School after staffing pressures forced the Irish military to end the 14-year arrangement.

Since 2009, the Armed Forces of Malta has sent 59 personnel, including seven women, to the military school in Curragh, where they graduated as officers.

There is currently one Maltese cadet training at the military college, and they are expected to graduate at the start of the year.

An AFM spokesperson confirmed the cadetship training programme in Ireland has not been extended because of “internal reviews and constraints” within the Irish Defence Forces.

Nonetheless, she said the AFM maintains a collaborative relationship with the IDF. “The Armed Forces of Malta anticipates continued support from the Irish Defence Forces in the form of alternative training and courses.”

The AFM will continue to provide overseas training opportunities for cadets with other foreign partners, the spokesperson added.

Over the years the AFM has sent officer cadets for training in Italy, Britain and the US.

According to The Irish Times, the AFM requested a training place for one cadet in the cadet class which began earlier this month but was informed that its request could not be met.

The Irish Defence Forces are currently consolidating their operations because of a recruitment and retention crisis. The Irish army should have 9,500 personnel but currently has less than 7,700 members.

The consolidation exercise has also impacted the resources available to the military college with some training roles being outsourced to contractors.

The AFM has had a growing relationship with its Irish counterparts and since 2018 a unit of Maltese soldiers has been attached to the Irish Defence Forces battalion serving with the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

The contingent is stationed in southern Lebanon along the border with Israel, which has seen multiple exchanges of fire between the Israeli Defence Forces and Hizbullah since 7 October.