Helen McEntee refuses to confirm knowledge of alleged spy in Dáil – Home

By Cate McCurry, PA

The Justice Minister has refused to confirm whether she was alerted to an alleged spy in the Dáil over the past five years.

Helen McEntee said she is regularly briefed on all security matters, including the intelligence services.

It comes after a report last Sunday said key government figures said Russian intelligence had recruited an Irish politician.

The Sunday Times reported that a “honeytrap” was used to recruit the politician named Cobalt with one aim being to undermine relations between Britain, Ireland and the EU in the Brexit negotiations.

The paper also reported that while the Irish Defense Forces and security services identified the potential agent, they remain in the country’s parliament.

Tánaiste and Defense Minister Micheál Martin said earlier this week that he was never told about an alleged spy.

Ms McEntee said she is briefed on security issues by the Garda and Defense Forces.

“I think you’ll understand and appreciate that I’m not going to go into detail about what is a matter of security. I shouldn’t have to.

“As Minister for Justice, I take my role very seriously,” she told RTÉ’s The Week In Politics programme.

“What I will say, and obviously without going into detail, is that I am regularly informed and updated on all security matters.

“I’m updated by the gardai, I’m updated by the intelligence service, and they themselves obviously have the structures.

“As Minister for Justice, I am directly briefed on a number of different issues, either directly from the Guard or through the Defense Forces.

“And I think what we have seen in recent weeks is that, as a country, we are not immune to any type of attack, whether basic physical or intelligence.

“That is why I have said consistently over the last few weeks, we all need to be aware of this, and I think as public representatives, we are alert to the fact that Ireland, although a small country, we are not immune to this types of risks”.

Social Democrat TD Gary Gannon said politicians should be given more information about the alleged spy.

Criticizing the state’s “very cavalier” approach to internal security, the Dublin Central TD cited the ransomware attack on the HSE in 2021.

Conti, a Russian-based cybercrime group, was responsible for disrupting the country’s entire healthcare system.

He said there were other “worrying incidents”, including claims that Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe made a phone call to an Israeli minister about the occupied territories bill, an allegation the minister denied.

The then finance minister was reported to have had a “secret phone call” in 2019 with his Israeli counterpart to assure him that the Irish government would block the bill.

“This TD said there is no basis in fact.

“What it really means to me, that (there are) other questions that need to be asked here.

“Well, what happened? Was there someone impersonating the minister? Is this another attempt to undermine our democracy?” Mr. Gannon added.

“The fact that there was no basis in fact suggested to me that there is something more at play here, but nevertheless we have a very cavalier attitude to understanding, to being curious about what happened exactly there

“We have a very cavalier attitude to what is happening within our own borders.”