The Minister of Justice declared that “we all need to remain vigilant” as a nation and as elected officials, adding that she has not received any approaches from Russia, reports RTE.
Helen McEntee made these remarks in response to a report that surfaced over the weekend claiming that an Irish politician was recruited as an agent by Russian intelligence.
According to The Sunday Times, one of the objectives of Russian intelligence’s “honeytrap” operation to enlist a politician as an agent during the Brexit negotiations was to sabotage ties between the UK, Ireland, and the EU.
The Irish military and security agencies discovered the possible agent, code-named Cobalt, but they are still in the Oireachtas, according to the article, reports RTE.
Speaking in Drogheda, County Louth, Ms. McEntee stated: “These threats are not unheard of. No matter how little your nation is, you may think that we’re on the outside, but we’re not, therefore we all need to exercise caution.”
According to Ms. McEntee, her responsibility is to ensure that the intelligence and garda units are equipped with the necessary tools and legislation, saying, “Anything that we need to be able to counter this type of threat.”
“We’re updating our laws and again making sure that gardaà have the investment that they require to be able to respond,” she added, adding that this work has been done for years, reports RTE.
It would be naïve, according to independent TD Cathal Berry, to believe that Russia is not targeting the 220 members of the Oireachtas.
According to the former Army Ranger, the Russian policy is to erode public institutions’ credibility.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Peadar TóibÃn, the leader of Aontú, urged all political parties and Independent groups in the Oireachtas to immediately conduct an audit in order to determine whether any elected officials had exposed themselves to undue influence by their acts.
In 2017, Mr. TóibÃn claimed to have received an offer from a consulting business that included a five-star trip to Russia to meet with President Vladimir Putin as part of a trade show.
He was a Sinn Féin member at the time, reports RTE.
Tell us your thoughts in the Facebook post and share this with your friends.
