CABINET FEARS OVER RUSSIAN POLL MEDDLING
EXCLUSIVE: Fallout from Putin’s travel ban raises concerns over potential election interference here
MINISTERS and Government officials are employing increased security measures amid deepening fears of ‘Russian infiltration’, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
TDs and senators who have been placed on a Kremlin travel ban list have called for enhanced protection and security advice.
Although sources played down the likelihood of physical harm, a minister expressed concern over a risk to State cybersecurity. including possible ‘election interference’.
MINISTERS and Government officials are employing increased security measures amid deepening fears of Russian infiltration, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
TDs and senators who have been placed on a Kremlin travel ban list have called on the Government to provide them with significantly enhanced protection and security advice.
But while sources played down the likelihood of physical harm, one source expressed significant concern over the State’s cybersecurity preparedness and the potential for Russia to interfere in our elections.
Foreign Affairs and Defence Minister Simon Coveney yesterday insisted he does not believe there is a ‘security risk’ to the country. However, another
cabinet minister told the MoS: ‘If I’d have any concerns, it would be things like hacking our phones and emails – I’m not sure our security is as good as it could be – and also, election interference.’
Security measures around senior Government officials have steadily increased since Russia invaded Ukraine at the beginning of the year.
As part of the measures, mobile phone devices must be left outside meeting rooms when Russia is being discussed.
Senior Garda sources also confirmed last night that growing concerns over Russian espionage have played ‘a substantial role’ in providing all Cabinet ministers with armed protection and specialised transport.
The process of providing every minister with protection was only completed in recent weeks. However, ministers, TDs and senators among the 52 people publicly placed on a Kremlin watchlist this week have urged the Government to significantly enhance security for them.
Some of the politicians banned from travel to Russia say they have received no offers of additional security or advice on the extent of Russian ‘infiltration’ of their mobile phones or technology. One of those on the watchlist, Fine Gael TD and former minister Michael Ring, said he is ‘deeply concerned’ about the lack of security cover.
Mr Ring told the MoS: ‘I’m calling on the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste to take it seriously and that our security has to be looked at now. We want advice from our Government on how we’re going to deal with this.’
The MoS previously reported that the Mayo TD was a member of the 2018 cabinet who had their phones taken off them before a meeting to discuss the then-expanding Russian Embassy.
Mr Ring told the MoS: ‘We would like to know how much infiltration the Russians have into our phones and laptops and whatever else.’
He pointed out that former British prime minister Liz Truss has had to change her mobile phone four times since July due to Russian interference.
And Russia is widely believed to have interfered in the US election that propelled Donald Trump to power in 2016 as well as the Brexit vote that resulted in the UK leaving the EU in the same year.
On the eve of this month’s US midterm elections Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Russian private mercenary force the Wagner Group and an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, admitted: ‘We have interfered, we are interfering and we will continue to interfere – carefully, accurately, surgically and in our own way, as we know how to do.’
Fianna Fáil Senator Timmy Dooley, who is also on the list of 52, pointed out that rogue Russian operatives tried to kill dissidents in the UK with the blessing of the Kremlin.
The Clare politician, who led a protest outside the Russian Embassy soon after the invasion of Ukraine and publicly called for the expulsion of Russian ambassador Yuri Filatov, told the MoS: ‘Some see it as a badge of honour [to be on the watchlist]. The reality is that it highlights and exposes a small group of people to international sympathisers of Russia, whose desires and aims may well coalesce with the desire of a desperate dictator to intimidate parliamentarians.
‘This is a dog whistle to Putin’s supporters to visit harm on those of us who have been named. I have never given way to bullies but friends and family have reminded me that some Russian-connected securocrats carried out an atrocity not so far away in Salisbury [where a British national died and three others were left critically ill after the 2018 Novichok poisoning attacks].
‘They have access to technologies, and we’ve seen how that has played out with the HSE [cyberattack] and others.’
Mr Ring told the MoS: ‘I believe that the Government and Simon Coveney should immediately expel all the Russian diplomats and close down that embassy now. They can renegotiate their return at another stage, but they should close it down now and call the bluff of the Russians.’
Even senior ministers have expressed concerns over the lack of advice coming from the Department of Foreign Affairs on the growing Russian threat.
One minister told the MoS: ‘I was contacted to say I was on this list but that is it. I would have expected a full sweep of all phones, devices and computers at the very least. I would also have much preferred a heightened security presence.’
Some TDs and senators have privately told senior Government officials that Garda protection should be provided for all Oireachtas members.
One TD said: ‘You’ll get some who would complain about the cost, but I now think the time has come for full Garda protection for all Government members.’
All TDs and senators who spoke to MoS this weekend called for a full security sweep of all mobiles phones, devices, computers and any other hardware vulnerable to infiltration. One TD said: ‘At the very least I would have expected contact from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Justice over this. I have got one phone call, which was probably tapped, from the Department of Foreign Affairs to tell me I was on the list and that is it… I am very disappointed and worried.
‘But my wife and children are very concerned too.’
One minister said: ‘Any meeting where Russia is discussed in substantive form, we have to leave our mobile phones outside the room.
‘We are informed that there are fears that the phones can be used by Russian spies as microphones, listening devices and even cameras. It’s all very Le Carré-esque,’ they added in reference to the espionage author.
Until last year, only the Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Justice Minister had armed protection.
The source told the MoS: ‘There has been more and more worry about the Russian threat and that played a role in our security assessment, of course it did. It’s not so much the official Russian security forces, it’s that there are many Russian nationals in Ireland and all you need is one mentally unstable individual to take their lead from their rogue leaders.’
One minister who was provided with Garda protection this year confirmed: ‘When I was presented with the rationale for the new car and driver, Russia certainly formed part of the conversation.’
Despite the heightened concerns, Fine Gael ministers defiantly declared yesterday that Russia’s ‘divide and conquer’ tactics would not work.
Speaking at the party’s Ard Fheis in Athlone, Social Protection and incoming temporary Justice Minister Heather Humphreys told the MoS: ‘Putin’s divide and conquer strategy will not work. We are united as a country, we are united across Europe in condemnation of Putin’s murders and his apparatus of terror. We will remember the atrocities.’
Mr Coveney also dismissed the diplomatic ban as being ‘an attempt to unsettle the Irish political system. It is an attempted distraction from the work we are engaged in’.
‘Close down embassy and call Russian bluff’
‘This is a dog whistle to Putin’s supporters’