EAMON RYAN HAS called for the identity of a politician who was allegedly recruited as an agent by Russian intelligence to be publicly revealed.
The minister said it would remove any possibility of suspicion being cast upon the whole of the Oireachtas, but added that it should be carried out legally.
Meanwhile, Justice Minister Helen McEntee urged elected representatives to remain vigilant and added: “We’re not immune to these kinds of threats.”
The Sunday Times reported that Russian intelligence used a “honeytrap” to recruit the politician as an agent during the Brexit talks, with one of the aims being to undermine relations between Britain, Ireland and the EU.
The paper also reported that while the Irish military and security services identified the potential agent, code-named Cobalt, they remain in the country’s parliament.
Ryan said it was a “very significant allegation”.
“If that was the case, obviously, it is a real concern and a real security concern if you have a member of the Oireachtas acting in such a way,” he added.
It’s very hard to know how that person could be identified.
“That is something that would benefit the rest of us, so that the suspicion doesn’t go on the entire Oireachtas. But legally obviously that has to be done so we have to wait and see how the allegations made can be verified.
“They are very serious, but until that point I think we have to be careful. We don’t know who that person is, obviously.”
Taoiseach Simon Harris yesterday said that “it shouldn’t come as any surprise to any of us that Russia seeks to influence public opinion and is active in relation to that across the world and that Ireland is not immune from that”.
Harris added that he is “satisfied that our gardaí and our intelligence services working internationally with counterparts take this issue very seriously.”
Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín has called on all political parties and independents to audit TDs and Senators to “ensure no undue influence from Russia or any other country”.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Tóibín said that in 2017, he was approached by a consultancy firm and “offered a trip with a five-star hotel and to meet Vladimir Putin”.
He said he was not interested in the offer “given the anti-democratic nature of Putin”.
Tóibín added that he has “always been against junkets” and that there is no such thing as a “free lunch”.
“The idea that there is an Oireachtas member potentially in the Dáil who is working for Russian intelligence is quite treacherous,” he said.
“I think every political party has a responsibility now to carry out a very quick audit to see if any of their TDs or Senators have been approached.”
Tóibín added that it is “important that political parties are very open and transparent in relation to any contacts that have been made to them by the Russian government”.
Further elaborating on the 2017 approach that was made, Tóibín said he “received a couple of phone calls from a consultancy firm”.
“That consultancy firm mentioned that there was a trade fair happening and there would be thousands of people from all over the world.
“They added that it was a good opportunity to represent Ireland and subsequently, I was told there would be a political element to it, and that meetings could be arranged with the head of the Russian government.”
Tóibín said his “instinct is that the Russian government is a government that has very, very anti-democratic instincts”.
“It’s not something that I would be interested in being associated with whatsoever,” he added.
Tóibín was a Sinn Féin TD at the time and said he passed the information on the approach to the International Department of the party.
When asked about the story today, Justice Minister Helen McEntee confirmed that she had not been approached by Russia and said that Ireland and all politicians need to “remain vigilant”.
“We’re not immune to these kinds of threats, no matter how small a country we are or feel that we’re on the periphery, we’re not,” McEntee said.
“Of course, my job is to make sure that the gardaí and our intelligence units have the appropriate laws, the resources, anything that they need to be able to counter this type of threat, and that’s obviously the work that I’ve been doing over the last number of years.
“We’re updating our laws and again, making sure that Gardaí have the investment that they require to be able to respond.”
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