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[[File:Eiresign.jpg|thumb|350px|right|Markings to alert aircraft to neutral Ireland ("Éire") during [[World War II]] on [[Malin Head]], [[County Donegal]]]]
'''Plan W''', during [[World War II]], was a plan of joint military operations between the governments of [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]] and the [[United Kingdom]] devised between 1940 and 1942, to be executed in the event of an invasion of Ireland by [[Nazi Germany]].
Although Ireland was [[Irish neutrality|officially neutral]], after the German [[Blitzkrieg]]s of 1939–40 that resulted in the defeat of Poland, the Low Countries and France, the British recognised that Germany planned an invasion of Britain ([[Operation Sea Lion]]) and were also concerned about the possibility of a German invasion of Ireland. German planning for [[Operation Green (Ireland)|Operation Green]] began in May 1940 and the British began [[Ultra|intercepting communications]] about it in June. The British were interested in securing Ireland, as its capture by German forces would expose their western flank and provide a base of operations for the [[Luftwaffe]] in the [[Battle of the Atlantic]] and in any operations launched to invade Great Britain as part of Operation Sea Lion.
Irish-British co-operation was a controversial proposal for both sides, as most members of the Irish political establishment had been combatants in the [[Irish War of Independence]] between 1919 and 1921. However, because of the threat of German occupation and seizure of Ireland and especially the valuable Irish ports, Plan W was developed. [[Northern Ireland]] was to serve as the base of a new [[British Expeditionary Force (World War II)|British Expeditionary Force]] that would move across the [[Irish border]] to repel the invaders from any beach-head established by German [[paratrooper]]s. In addition, coordinated actions of the [[Royal Air Force]] and [[Royal Navy]] were planned to repel German air and sea invasion. According to a restricted file prepared by the [[British Army]]'s "Q" Movements Transport Control in Belfast, the British would not have crossed the border "until invited to do so by the Irish Government,"<ref>Fisk pp. 237–238.</ref> and it is not clear who would have had the operational authority over the British troops invited into the State by [[Éamon de Valera]].<ref name="ReferenceA">de Valera had agreed to the plan "wholeheartedly" although was more reluctant in private about which would be worse – a German or a British occupying force.</ref> The document added that most people in Ireland probably would have helped the British Army, but "there would have been a small disaffected element capable of considerable guerrilla activities against the British."<ref name="autogenerated1">Fisk P.237-238. This is certainly true. While the IRA of the time considered de Valera and the rest of those who had accepted partition of the island as traitors, the act of extending an invitation to British troops back into the 26 counties would have emboldened them even further.</ref>
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By December 1940 the plan had been extended. While the first British striking force headed for Dublin, the British [[61st Infantry Division (United Kingdom)|61st Division]], in a separate operation, would move across the border into [[County Donegal]] and secure the Treaty port of [[Lough Swilly]] for the [[Royal Navy]], providing the British Government with a third of the naval defence requirements that they had been requesting from de Valera for more than a year. The British Troops in Northern Ireland (BTNI) war diary of the time lists 278 Irish troops at Lough Swilly and only 976 Irish troops in the rest of Donegal.<ref>Considering that the invasion was meant only to take place at the invitation of de Valera these details should have been moot.</ref>
The diary goes on to say that in the event of an invasion "close
According to a [[Classified information|restricted]] file prepared by the British Army's 'Q' Movements Transport Control in Belfast, the British would not have crossed the border "until invited to do so by the Éire Government", but the document added that although most people in the State probably would have helped the British Army, "there would have been a small disaffected element capable of considerable guerrilla activities against us."<ref name="autogenerated1"/>
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