The Defence Forces took the “correct decision” not to shoot down unidentified drones that appeared off the Irish coast during an official visit to Ireland by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.
He was speaking on Saturday during a visit to Lebanon where he met Irish peacekeepers at Camp Shamrock, the main Irish base for troops in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), 7km from the border with Israel.
Mr Martin said he had a “very detailed briefing” with Tánaiste Simon Harris and other Ministers last week on the drone incident.
“I think, on the operation response, the correct decision was taken and the correct approach. There is an investigation under way at the moment – obviously nothing can happen until that is concluded.”
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The Taoiseach pointed out that An Garda Síochána was formally investigating the matter. “I had a detailed brief with the chief and his team, the Garda Commissioner, in terms of the broader visit of president Zelenskiy which in terms of security was successful – it’s important to state that.
“The drones did not constitute any danger to civilians in any shape or form.”
The rogue drones, which were launched as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy was arriving in Ireland, came as close as 500m to Irish naval vessel LÉ William Butler Yeats.
However, security sources told The Irish Times last week that the officers of LÉ William Butler Yeats felt that due to the rules of engagement in place at the time, and the presence of civilian aircraft in the skies above, they could not open fire.
Senior gardaí have privately criticised the Naval Service’s decision not to shoot down the five drones that were spotted hovering around the ship late on Monday night, about 13 nautical miles out to sea in Dublin Bay.
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The Taoiseach said he was “absolutely backing” the Defence Forces’ decision not to fire on the drones and that he had “absolute trust in the operational decision making” at the time. Mr Martin said the incident “reflects a broader pattern of activity across Europe in terms of incidents of this kind”.
“We are not the first country in Europe in recent times to have drones emerging and it’s an evolving situation. A pattern has developed in various hybrid activities such as issues in the Baltic Sea and we have activity in the maritime space.”
Mr Martin said Ireland and Europe would continue to invest in drone technology, critical undersea technology, port security and cyber security.
Speaking to reporters in Lebanon, Mr Martin was also asked about the capacity of the health service to deal with the current flu outbreak.
“It’s a very serious flu and all the advice is that it will peak in and around Christmas Day and Christmas week,” Mr Martin said.
“There are various actions being taken by the health services which have been taken already which are mitigating the impact on acute hospitals to every degree possible.”
He said actions were being taken by “various hospitals in terms of restrictions” and he encouraged people to get vaccinated. “It is a particularly strong strain of the flu.”
As the controversy over Fianna Fáil’s failed presidential campaign continues, Mr Martin said he still intended to lead the party into the next general election.
“The overwhelming view of the party is to focus on the issues that matter to the Irish public. We needed to do what we had to do in terms of the review of the presidential election. Most importantly, TDs and Senators are saying to me ‘continue doing what you are doing as Taoiseach’ in terms of focusing on the core issues facing the Irish people in terms of housing, the infrastructure delivery [and] child poverty.”
