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TODAY, TÁNAISTE AND Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Coveney announced that he would expel a Russian diplomat over the poisoning of a double agent and his daughter in England last month.
Russian nationals Sergei Skripal (66) and his daughter Yulia (33) were found unresponsive on a park bench in Salisbury on 4 March after being poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent – the first attack of its kind since the Second World War.
This afternoon, Coveney said that he had met with the Russian ambassador and informed him “that the accreditation of a member of his staff with diplomatic status is to be terminated”.
In a spiraling diplomatic incident, the move to oust a Russian diplomat in solidarity with the UK has raised questions about the future relations with Russia, and the status of Ireland’s neutrality.
One expert in post-Soviet politics told TheJournal.ie that the move was significant, because even though this isn’t the first time Ireland has expelled Russian diplomats, it’s the first time it was done based on UK intelligence.
There is a risk that politics is running ahead of rule of law, which is always dangerous.
Here’s a quick recap of how we got here.
UK investigation
Following UK analysis, it was discovered that the chemical used in the attack had been developed by the Soviet Union during the late stages of the Cold War. This led the UK to believe that it was “highly likely” Russia was behind the attack, and gave them 10 days to respond.
Russia said this deadline was “absolutely unacceptable”.
After the deadline passed, the House of Commons was told that the Kremlin was “culpable” for the attack, and that the UK would expel 23 Russian diplomats.
No British royals or ministers will attend the World Cup in Russia, British Prime Minister Theresa May announced to Britain’s parliament.
“Many of us looked at a post-Soviet Russia with hope. We wanted a better relationship and it is tragic that President [Vladimir] Putin has chosen to act in this way,” May said.
They have treated the use of a military grade nerve agent in Europe with sarcasm, contempt and defiance.
She also said that Russian State assets would be frozen if there’s evidence that they were used to threaten the life or property of people in the UK.
“There is no place for these people – or their money – in our country,” she said, prompting cheers from both government and opposition representatives.
Upon that announcement in the House of Commons, France, Germany, the US and EU leaders supported the sanctions taken against Russia.
“We, the leaders of France, Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom, abhor the attack that took place against Sergei and Yulia Skripal,” said the statement issued by the British government.
This use of a military-grade nerve agent, of a type developed by Russia, constitutes the first offensive use of a nerve agent in Europe since the Second World War. It is an assault on UK sovereignty and any such use by a State party is a clear violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and a breach of international law.
“It threatens the security of us all.”
Russian denials
The Kremlin said the accusation was “unforgivable”.
In response to the UK’s ousting of 23 suspected Russian spies, the Kremlin announced similar measures – expelling 23 UK diplomats.
It also ceased the work of the British Council in Russia, a body that promotes cultural and educational opportunities.
“The position of the British side appears to us absolutely irresponsible,” President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists two weeks ago.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Claire Byrne Live last night, Russian Ambassador to Ireland Yury Filatov said that Ireland should put its interests first and “not someone else’s interest” which he said “might be the case”.
He said the two countries have a “huge amount of goodwill” and he did not see a need to ruin it.
The only thing I know for sure, from the onset of the whole incident on 4 March in Salisbury – the British Government has moved away from dealing with that in a responsible manner. So, they preferred to wage a propaganda campaign, unprecedented, surely.
Ireland’s stance
Yesterday it was announced that more than 100 Russian diplomats would be expelled from 20 countries in North America and Europe. The US announced it would expel 60 diplomats, Ukraine said it would oust 13, while Canada, France, Germany and Poland announced it would kick out four each.
This put pressure on Ireland to announce similar measures, which it reciprocated with today.
“We’re at a very difficult point in European Union-Russian relations,” said Fine Gael MEP Brian Hayes on Today with Sean O’Rourke this morning.
“This is a dangerous ratcheting up of Cold-War tensions and Ireland, which is meant to be neutral, should be taking no part in this,” TD Paul Murphy said prior to the announcement.
But a lecturer on post-Soviet politics, unrecognised states and Irish foreign policy disagrees.
“This is not a breach of Irish neutrality, neutrality has never meant not taking sides,” says Dr Donnacha Ó Beacháin, an associate professor at DCU School of Law and Government.
“People can argue we shouldn’t have taken a side, but that does not negate military neutrality. Facilitating the US army at Shannon Airport is much closer to breaching neutrality.”
Speaking to TheJournal.ie following the announcement, Ó Beacháin said that the expulsion wouldn’t affect Russian-Irish relations, as trade between the countries had halved in recent years.
Ireland is protected too, somewhat, by virtue of the fact that it is not acting unilaterally but as part of a coordinated effort, primarily in our capacity as an EU member.
But he did question why the UK, Ireland and other nations chose to act against Russia over this issue, and why they chose to discipline the Kremlin the way that they did.
“Expelling diplomats is what one might call ‘cheap diplomacy’. This is a very low-cost, predictable way of reacting, and it doesn’t cost anything financially.
[The UK, EU and Ireland] didn’t choose actions that would actually hurt the Kremlin, like reducing importation of Russian oil and gas, where it would be very painful difficult to find different sources of energy, in the short-term at least.
He said that he’d argue this isn’t the most effective way of taking a stand against Russia.
“Going after Russian money invested in European financial centres, not least in London: those are real weapons, but would involve major losses for some EU states. What’s been chosen instead is rather symbolic.”
We’re not even expelling ambassadors, we’re expelling staff members that can be easily replaced. I think it’ll be seen by Russia for what it is: letting off steam.
The action taken by the UK government in this case contrasts with its response following the death of a former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 after being poisoned with polonium.
“Theresa May, while she was Home Secretary, stalled on public enquiry into his death, and the rationale was that it would hurt UK-Russian relations. The irony was that it was opened in 2014 when those relations were at their lowest – after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Some would argue that she’s got something to prove.”
He said that after that annexation of Crimea in 2014, Ireland didn’t expel a diplomat then, “and that was far more important”.
The last time Ireland did expel a Russian diplomat was in 2010, when it was revealed that six Irish passports were cloned by the Kremlin to be used by Russian spies.
He said that it’s interesting that Ireland is choosing to rely on the information from the British government, who themselves “have a long history of espionage, not least in this country”.
“There is a risk that politics is running ahead of rule of law, which is always dangerous.”
It’s very popular in Russian media to say that the British did this themselves to create a united front in Europe.
That echoes the comment of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who said that the case was a distraction from the UK’s Brexit troubles.
“That’s a natural reaction – Russia are extraordinarily adept at denying an action until it’s too late to do anything about it.”
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There choice to get sent there….
@Paul: Is it a choice to have the neurological disorder ADHD, a condition that affects impulsivity, causes those affected to act first and think later (32%). Is it a choice to have a mental health problem (55%)? Is it a choice to have a learning disability (36%) or learning difficulty (22% i.e. an IQ below 70)? Is it a choice to be at risk of neglect or abuse (47%)? Is it a choice to be born into a background of poverty or criminality?
@David Jordan: all very well but the vast majority of people in the world diagnosed with these issues and have steered clear of the wrong side of the law. So by your reasoning does it mean that the other ones in there are just simply bad people or shall we draw up an excuse for each and everyone. If it were the case that their mental health problems/learning disabilities/learning difficulty reduced their mental age capacity or hampered it in a way they could not differentiate between right and wrong they tm would not be in a facility like Oberstown. Oberstown is for criminals under the age of 18. Would you be signing off the same hymn sheet if they had robbed your car or held a knife to your mother’s throat and took her pension?
@Paul: absolutely, just like it was your choice not to be educated. The word is spelled ‘Their’.
I’ll elaborate…. look at those vulnerable children over (there)’. (They’re) alone in (their) rooms without any parental guidance through no fault of their own.
3 versions of the same sounding word.
Seems your lack of education is not solely limited to poor spelling. Perhaps research what the potential effects of broken homes, abusive parents, alcohol related issues, lack of parental support etc have in young children.
Hope you receive the help you need (Night classes perhaps?), just as I hope these children receive the help they themselves need.
@David Jordan:
And just so we are clear ADHD can sometimes (not always) affect impulsivity. It’s more to do with an inability to maintain persistent attention to tasks etc along with hyperactivity, hence the name. It’s far too easy nowadays to throw out a few letters and dismiss people’s actions as a result.
@Paul: *their
@Paul: “Their”
@David Jordan: The most serious well known disorder that these kids suffer from is BOLD.
@David Jordan: oh and to your last line maybe we should start looking at that and that decisions should be taken brfore the birth of a child to determine whether prospective parents(s) have the required “where with all” to safely bring up a child.
Never ceases to amaze me that people can be so sympathetic to children in abusive and non-loving homes but as soon as those children reach an age of about 14 all that sympathy goes straight out the window.
Small children that don’t get the same start in life that others take for granted WILL grow up to be potentially criminals. They don’t just suddenly “learn” the right way to function in society if they’ve never been taught.
And yet there seems to be a distinct reticence by many to fund early intervention and parental assistance. There seems to be a feeling that the parents don’t deserve help with the added bonus of the child grows into an adult that “doesn’t deserve help”.
And so the wheel turns.
@Tricia Golden: Many of these teenagers come from criminal homes. Grandfather’s, Fathers, Brothers, Uncles and Cousins, many been have and are involved in criminal activities. For them crime is as natural as going to work is for you.
@Tricia Golden: The percentages are frightening. Travellers represent 23% of the inmates but are only 0.6% of the general population. This is a huge figure and it’s screaming at us to get this “Culture” removed with education and good role models. This way of life costs us taxpayers tens on millions a year but we are still not addressing the problem !
@Ser Barristan Selmy: Well done missing my point.
I am specifically pointing to early intervention, supplying good role models and providing advice and assistance to parents long before these children reach the stage where the penal system needs to “teach them”.
I will concede that “will” versus “potentially” but I suspect it doesn’t detract from my overall point beyond giving you something to focus on apart from my main argument.
@Richard Wright: Did I say that or is it that what you yourself are thinking?
@Richard Wright: Firstly you are assuming that I am Christian yet know nothing about me, secondly you are assuming I am writing anyone off instead of making a factual point. Anymore assumptions you would like to jump to?
@Ser, did you even read the article? No, at 14 if the “scrotes” as you call them, have NOT learned social norms. If they’re living with parents who couldn’t give a cr*p about them, where drinking or doing drugs, neglecting them, then of course they’re never going to learn what’s ok because they’ve never seen it. As for the penal system teaching them, you are out of your mind. None of this addresses the issues or fixes the problem. Does this mean we should have group hugs and candlelight vigils? No. But perhaps putting in better structures, early intervention and a social care system that works beyond 5pm on a Friday, May be places to start.
No, Ser, they don’t. If they’ve never been taught it, and shown it, they can’t pick it up by osmosis
@Richard Wright: A discussion between a mental health expert (West Cork Lad) and Mick Jordan,on this very topic..Maybe this will give you a better insight into Micks thoughts on these children…
http://www.thejournal.ie/special-care-unit-hiqa-2302413-Aug2015/#comments
@Ser Barristan Selmy: Read that article in the link that I just put up,as It might help to answer the question that you just asked of Jeannette…
Ser, early intervention and a well staffed, proper social services Dept that opens beyond 5pm on a Friday. As to knowing right from wrong and it’s full implications, we wouldn’t expect a child who was never spoken to, to be able to speak.
@Ser Barristan Selmy: My bad.I asked you to read the article.I should have said the comments section of it…
Think a free hug session is over due.
The poor darlings
Plenty of kids and adults with adhd successful in life and not robbing backsterds and burglars and car thief’s….. And I’ve no doubt the state did all it could for them by giving them free access to doctors medication councillors. Unlike the ones who pay for it
Where is Paul Murphy’s contribution on all of this ?
We’re in the process of creating our own home grown terrorist problem.
This chaos has to stop. Reopen St. Pats for god sake…..
have your say