RUSSIA’S AMBASSADOR to Ireland has expressed concern that the controversy over allegations that Russian spies used data from Irish passports may overshadow ongoing negotiations towards reaching a bilateral agreement on adoption.
Ambassador Mikhail Timoshkin raised the concerns during a meeting with Debbie Deegan, director of Irish charity To Russia With Love, yesterday. Ms Deegan was invited to the Russian embassy after it emerged that a passport belonging to a volunteer with her charity had been implicated in the case.
On Monday it emerged that gardaí are investigating allegations that six forged Irish passports containing material copied from valid passports were used by members of a Russian spy ring uncovered in the US this summer.
Passports belonging to a Donegal firefighter and his wife who had holidayed in Russia in 2005 are among those implicated. It is not known how or where the passports were accessed.
Minister of State for Children Barry Andrews discussed progress towards a bilateral adoption agreement between Russia and Ireland at a conference organised by the International Adoption Association on Saturday.
A spokesman for the Russian embassy said the Department of Foreign Affairs had contacted the embassy yesterday regarding the passports controversy. “We have informed Moscow about the developments and the concerns on the Irish side, in the media and in Irish society,” he said.
The embassy had, up to yesterday, insisted it had received no contact from the Irish authorities about the allegations.
However, a spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs told The Irish Times that senior officials from the department had, on October 1st, informed Mr Timoshkin and a senior official from Moscow then visiting Dublin that the Government was investigating US allegations that Russian agents had used forged Irish passports.
“[They] made clear that the Government took serious exception to the forgery and misuse of Irish passports,” the spokesman said. “[They] notified their Russian counterparts that, depending on the outcome of the current inquiries, the assistance of the Russian authorities might be sought in furthering this investigation.”
The Russian espionage ring was broken up in June with the arrest of 10 people in New York, Boston, New Jersey and Virginia. All 10, who were later deported as part of a spy swap deal with Russia, admitted conspiring to act as unregistered foreign agents.
Most of the passports being investigated are believed to predate the current security-enhanced passport introduced in 2005. As a precautionary measure, replacement passports are being issued to the six individuals caught up in the case.