The publication Politico reports on a serious scandal in Ireland related to the recruitment of a member of the country's parliament by Russian agents. According to journalists, a representative of the left opposition party was recruited back in 2019, and his activities may threaten the political stability of the region.
Russian intelligence was able to recruit an Irish MP to carry out destabilizing tasks in the region, in particular to promote anti-NATO narratives and maintain contact with extremists from Northern Ireland. This is reported by Politico.
Two media sources from the Irish government and justice authorities have confirmed previously published information by The Sunday Times about the Russian recruitment of a member of the local parliament. At the same time, when journalists asked the Prime Minister of Ireland, Simon Harris, about the activities of the Russian intelligence in the legislative body, he replied that there was "nothing strange" about it.
"This should not come as a surprise to any of us... The Russian Federation seeks to distort public opinion and actively leads to this throughout the world. Ireland is not immune from this," replied the Irish Prime Minister, adding that Russia intensified such activities on the island after the start of a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to journalists, the Russian Federation recruited an Irish deputy in 2019 in order to increase the tension between Ireland and the United Kingdom against the background of Brexit, as well as to establish contacts with illegal paramilitary groups in Northern Ireland. It is known that the recruited member of parliament is a representative of the left-wing opposition party, and not of the three-party government of Harris, which supports Ukraine.
The mass media notes that the deputy himself was not arrested, and he was not charged for contacts with Russian intelligence, which operates under the cover of the Russian embassy. Under Irish law, he has not committed a crime, so his name has not been released publicly due to local libel laws.
The media added that the police asked the suspect to stop all contact with the Russians, but he continued to cooperate with them. At the same time, the law enforcement officers failed to record the fact that the parliamentarian received money or handed over confidential documents.
The activities of Russian agents in Ireland caused ridicule from local politicians. In a conversation with the media, one of the officials said that if the Russian Federation resorts to recruitment for contacts with the NZF in Northern Ireland, then this shows that the Russians have “no idea” about the local political landscape, and the agent recruited by them “has as many contacts in the paramilitary loyalist formations (NZF in Northern Ireland. — Ed .), how much Walter Mitty (the source hints at the character comics, which has a very turbulent fictional life. — Ed .)”.
