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Ireland–Russia relations

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Ireland–Russia relations
Map indicating locations of Ireland and Russia

Ireland
Russia

Ireland–Russia relations or the Russo–Irish relations are the bilateral relations between Ireland and the Russian Federation. Ireland has an embassy in Moscow, and Russia has an embassy in Dublin. Relations have been tense since the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014, and more so the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

History

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20th century

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In June 1920, as part of the efforts by the Sinn Féin leadership to obtain international recognition of the Irish Republic, a "Draft Treaty between the new Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and the Republic of Ireland" was circulated in Dublin. E. H. Carr, the historian of early Bolshevism, considered that ".. the negotiations were not taken very seriously on either side."[1]

Patrick McCartan was to visit Moscow on the instructions of Éamon de Valera to make inquiries on the possibility of mutual recognition. However, before he proceeded "the Soviets had gone cold on ties with the Republic for fear of jeopardising trade negotiations with Britain."[2]

In April 1920, Ireland provided a loan to the Soviet Union. Russian jewels were provided as security, and these jewels were secretly stored in a private suburban house in Dublin until 1938. The loan was repaid in 1948 and the jewels returned to Moscow.[3]

Ireland did not recognize the USSR until 29 September 1973.[4]

Cooperation between both nations became much more active following the end of the Cold War, with many bilateral treaties coming into effect between both nations in numerous fields (taxation, investment protection, cultural and scientific, aviation, etc.).

21st century

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On 1 February 2011, for the first time since 1983,[5] the Irish government expelled a Russian diplomat based in Dublin after an investigation by the Garda Special Detective Unit (following a tip off from the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation) which found that the identities of six Irish citizens had been stolen and used as cover for Russian spies found to have been working in the United States in June 2010.[6]

Since the 2010s, Russian bomber aircraft have deliberately flown into Irish-controlled airspace several times, without warning, and with their transponders switched off. As the Irish Air Corps lacks air defence, the British Royal Air Force (RAF) have had to intercept these bombers. It is believed that these provocative missions are meant to intimidate, to test RAF response time, and to gather intelligence on British-Irish air defence co-operation.[7]

In February 2015, two Russian Tupolev Tu-95 "Bear" bombers—which can carry nuclear warheads—flew into Irish-controlled airspace twice, with their transponders switched off. The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) was forced to delay flights and divert civilian passenger aircraft out of the path of the Russian bombers.[8] The bombers flew within 25 nautical miles of the Irish coast, and were intercepted by RAF Eurofighter Typhoon jets scrambled from Britain.[9] Soon after, the Norwegian military confirmed that one of the bombers was carrying a nuclear warhead, after intercepting Russian military communications.[10]

In 2015, the Russian embassy in Dublin received planning permission to erect new buildings on its 2-hectare (4.9-acre) site. Included on the planning application was a large underground building ostensibly for storage and plant use. The Irish government held a special meeting in March 2020 to scrutinise the plans and after they were reinterpreted, building permission was revoked. [11]

On 26 March 2018, the Irish government expelled another Russian diplomat. The Taoiseach Leo Varadkar described the expulsion as "an act of solidarity with the United Kingdom" following a nerve agent attack in Salisbury earlier that month.[12]

There was controversy in January 2022, when Russia announced plans to hold naval drills about 150 nautical miles off the coast of County Cork, within Ireland's exclusive economic zone. It was to involve naval artillery and missiles. The Irish government warned citizens there would be would be "serious safety risks" in the area. Local fishermen, represented by the Irish South and West Fish Producers Association, protested to the Russian embassy that the drills could wipe out their catches and announced they would continue to fish in the area regardless. Russia's Ambassador to Ireland, Yury Filatov, warned the fishermen to "refrain from any provocative actions which might endanger all involved".[13] Eventually, in response to a request from the Irish government, Russia's Minister of Defence Sergey Shoigu agreed to move the naval drills further away from Ireland "as a gesture of goodwill".[14]

On 24 February 2022, Irish Taoiseach Micheál Martin condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine as an "immoral and outrageous breach of the most fundamental principles of international law" and a "shocking murderous act of aggression against a sovereign peaceful state", and promised that EU sanctions would be far reaching and hard-hitting.[15] A painter also put red paint on some of the Russian embassy's walls. A few days later, a truck driver drove a truck into the Russian embassy; however, no one was hurt or killed. [16]

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, Ireland—as one of the EU countries—imposed sanctions on Russia, and Russia added all EU countries to the list of "unfriendly nations".[17]

As of April 2022, there were 31 Russian diplomats in Ireland.[11] On 16 November, 2022, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that Russia had sanctioned 52 Irish politicians "in response to the anti-Russian course of the Irish government".[18][19] Ireland joined other countries in spring 2022 in declaring a number of Russian diplomats persona non grata.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Carr, EH The Bolshevik Revolution 1917–23, vol 3, Penguin Books, London, 4th reprint (1983), pp. 257–258. The draft treaty was published for propaganda purposes in the 1921 British document Intercourse between Bolshevism and Sinn Féin (Cmd 1326).
  2. ^ O'Connor, Emmet (2004). Reds and the green: Ireland, Russia and the Communist Internationals, 1919–43. University College Dublin Press. p. 47. ISBN 9781904558194.
  3. ^ How the Russian crown jewels went from the palaces of the Romanovs to Harry Boland's family home in Dublin, RTE, April 3rd 2020
  4. ^ Irish-Soviet diplomatic and friendship relations, 1919–80
  5. ^ Fitzgerald, Mary (2 February 2011). "Diplomat expelled from embassy of the Russian Federation after revelations on spies' Irish passports". The Irish Times. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  6. ^ "Ireland expels Russian envoy over faked spy passports". BBC News. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 3 February 2011.
  7. ^ Burke, Edward (10 March 2020). "What are Russian bombers doing in Irish airspace?". The Irish Times.
  8. ^ O’Riordan, Sean (3 March 2015). "Passenger planes dodged Russian bombers". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  9. ^ "Russian bombers disrupted planes in Irish airspace". Telegraph.co.uk. 4 March 2015.
  10. ^ O’Riordan, Sean (12 February 2015). "Russian bomber in Irish air space 'had nuclear weapon'". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
  11. ^ a b Spy games: expulsion of diplomats shines light on Russian espionage (15 April 2022). The Guardian.
  12. ^ Expulsion of Russian diplomat 'will not go unanswered' (27 March 2018). RTÉ News.
  13. ^ "How a group of Irish fishermen forced the Russian Navy into a U-turn". CNN. 31 January 2022.
  14. ^ Griffin, Caitlín (29 January 2022). "Russia will not carry out naval exercises off Cork coast 'as gesture of goodwill'". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  15. ^ Kenny, Aine (24 February 2022). "Russia's attack on Ukraine 'immoral and outrageous', says Taoiseach". The Irish Times. Retrieved 24 February 2022.
  16. ^ "Lorry crashes through gates of Russian embassy in Dublin as man arrested".
  17. ^ Lee, Michael (8 March 2020). "Here are the nations on Russia's 'unfriendly countries' list". CTV News.
  18. ^ MFA Russia (16 November 2022). "В ответ на антироссийский курс правительства Ирландии принято решение о внесении в российский «стоп-лист» 52 ключевых представителей руководства и политических деятелей Ирландии". Telegram (in Russian). Retrieved 14 December 2022.
  19. ^ Tony Connelly [@tconnellyRTE] (16 November 2022). "BREAKING: Russia sanctions 52 Irish politicians "in response to the anti-Russian course of the Irish government" Statement from Russian foreign ministry..." (Tweet). Retrieved 14 December 2022 – via Twitter.
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