Official advice to the Irish people on how to prepare for war or another emergency is  “long overdue”, the Irish Survivalists Group has said. 

Yesterday, the European Commission urged people to stockpile enough food to last for three days in case an emergency disrupted the supply chains of essential items. 

On The Hard Shoulder, Irish Survivalists Group spokesperson Frank Deegan said the warning was simple common sense. 

“We’ve been trying to bring to the front for years to get people aware about what could potentially happen,” he said. 

“They don’t want to scare too many people with it but I think they’re doing the right thing, just bringing awareness to the general public.” 

When asked whether he viewed a war as a realistic possibility, Mr Deegan replied, “You never know.” 

He added that the Governments of many European nations have began earnestly preparing for a conflict. 

“The Swedish have a book, ‘In Case of War’, which is a huge book, 36 pages long,” he said. 

“They are basically telling people around their area to start prepping again; get your stuff in order because Russia is on the border. 

“Finland have just done it as well and so have France.” 

Irish Defence Forces soldiers. Picture by: Eamonn Farrell / RollingNews.ie

Mr Deegan added that France and Germany are “really pushing it now as well”. 

The Irish Government also has a history of advising citizens what to do in the event of a nuclear conflict. 

“Ireland did have a book in 1965,” he said. 

“It was in Irish and in English and I only got a copy of it the other day.” 

Me Deegan said as a neutral country, Ireland was unlikely to be attacked first. 

However, he said that if Britain and France were hit, Ireland would “get the fallout from it”. 

Main image: An Irish Defence Forces arm patch of a soldier. Picture by: Andy Gibson / Alamy Stock Photo