Calls for politicians to reveal Russia links as Peadar Toibin confirms trip offer
It follows a report in the Sunday Times at the weekend alleging that one politician in the Oireachtas had been “recruited by Russian intelligence as an agent of influence”
Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín has called on all political parties and independents to audit its TDs and Senators to ensure there is no “undue influence from Russia”.
It follows his confirmation that he was offered a trip to Russia and informed he would be given an opportunity to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. The story, originally reported on Monday by the Irish Independent, stated that Mr Tóibín was still a Sinn Féin TD when the invitation was extended in 2017.
It follows a report in the Sunday Times at the weekend alleging that one politician in the Oireachtas had been “recruited by Russian intelligence as an agent of influence”.
They are referred to by the codename “Cobalt”. It was suggested 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.
On Monday morning, Mr Tóibín confirmed he was “approached by a consultancy firm offering [him] a trip to Russia, stays in 5-star hotels and a meeting with Vladimir Putin”.
“This struck me as very strange and a little incredible,” he said. “Given the anti-democratic nature of the Putin regime, I indicated that I was not interested in it.
“Politically, I believe that there is no such thing as a free lunch. Politicians are there to serve their citizens and not be in the pocket of others. Jollies such as this represent a threat of undue influence. The political system in Ireland has been replete with influence or control by others, usually with a chequebook.
“That that influence would be sought in this manner from outside the country is obviously of serious concern. I passed the request to the international department of my previous party [Sinn Féin] and told them I was not interested in attending.”
Mr Tóibín said that, following news of a possible spy in the Oireachtas, he believed it was “important that political parties and independents indicate if their members have engaged in such trips before or have left themselves exposed to undue influence through their actions”.
He added that it was “beyond treacherous” for any politicians to use their position to “pursue the interests of any other nation, never mind the current Putin regime”. “I am not looking for a witch hunt but political parties and independents need to quickly and openly investigate this potential threat and bring it out into the open,” he said.
Speaking in Glasnevin on Sunday, Taoiseach Simon Harris said that he could not comment on matters of security.
“It shouldn’t come as any surprise to any of us that Russia seeks to influence public opinion, seeks to distort public opinion and is active in relation to that across the world and that Ireland is not immune from that,” he said.
“We’ve also seen a very significant increase in that level of activity since the brutal invasion by Russia of Ukraine. Gardaí and our security services take all of these issues extremely seriously and monitor these issues seriously, and work with international counterparts on all these matters, and I have great confidence in the ability of Gardaí, working with international counterparts.”
Pressed on whether he knows who the alleged agent is, Mr Harris said: “We never comment on this kind of thing. I’m not sure if any country does comment in relation to security matters. But I can tell you that as Taoiseach I am satisfied that our Gardaí and our intelligence services working internationally with counterparts take this issue very very seriously.”
The Irish Mirror has contacted all political parties and all independent TDs and Senators to inquire if they have ever been offered a trip to Russia or a meeting with President Putin.
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