The head of An Garda Síochána's Security and Intelligence Bureau has said Russia is one of a small number of countries spying in Ireland.
In an interview for RTÉ's This Week, Assistant Commissioner Michael McElgunn, who is in charge of the garda unit responsible for State Security, said they are particularly concerned about states that are involved in espionage here on sovereign soil with malign intent.
These states including Russia, he said, seek to support extremists’ groups here and create mistrust in Government.
They are also trying to steal secrets from the State and from industry, which undermines the reputation of Ireland.
The Assistant Commissioner for Crime & Security Intelligence Service also said gardaí are closely monitoring the people here they believe are spying.
Security and Intelligence are working closely with other European intelligence agencies and managing the entry and exit of suspected spies to and from the country.
The gardaí are realistic when it comes to espionage. They acknowledge that countries spy on each other for competitive advantage and in their own national interest.
"That’s the way the world works," the Assistant Commissioner said. "We have a duty to investigate and manage the threats from hostile states and that includes espionage in the State. We are committed to monitoring the particular threats. Russia is one of those countries we have an interest in."
The security and intelligence unit has four departments dedicated to monitoring the activities of four countries in the state.
"I’m cautious. Ireland maintains diplomatic relations with these countries," AC Michael Mc Elgunn said, "however if we look at events in Salisbury, in the UK and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, I don’t think too many people would be surprised if I was to say Russia was one of these states."
The Assistant Commissioner said gardaí are also monitoring the activities of China here because even though Ireland has good relations with China, it is a huge global superpower and the EU views it an economic competitor and a systemic rival on the world stage.
Ireland is one of many countries he said, whose security and intelligence agency has "an interest" in "elements of the Chinese Communist Party’s foreign policy" because "its’ world view is a little different from what it is in the western world".
Islamist extremism and ISIS-K
Gardaí say there are a number of Islamist extremist groups they are monitoring in conjunction with the European and US intelligence agencies. One of the most prominent is ISIS-K (Islamic State Khorasan Province) which has been linked to the attack on a concert hall in Moscow in March which killed over 140 people and has called for attacks in mainland Europe.
ISIS-K are linked to the attack on a concert hall in Moscow in March
Assistant Commissioner McElgunn said ISIS-K has a presence here but gardaí have succeeded in preventing one of their suspected operatives coming to Ireland to live here.
"They are not focussed on any attack here but interested in finance and logistical support" he said. "We were successful in preventing a major player relocating here."
The group is being targeted by the Special Detective Unit’s Terrorist Finance Unit.
Four people have been convicted of terrorist financing, 14 are currently before the courts, ten files are with the DPP and 25 other investigations at various stages of completion across a range of terrorist financing activities. Not all these cases relate to ISIS-K.
Social media and threats to politicians
He also said he expects the number of threats to increase further.
Gardaí have now appointed liaison inspectors in every garda division to ensure a consistent response to these matters.
"If there’s a complaint made by a politician about harassment or threats then we deal with them," Assistant Commissioner Mc Elgunn said.
"The Criminal Justice system in Ireland is based on a written complaint. There are some before the courts, more will come and it’s important that those prosecutions and convictions are seen."
He also said that social media is enabling violent extremism and the bigger providers are not using technology to stop this. He said the smaller ones are keen to get involved but the European Digital Services Act places obligations on companies to report and the response to this violence "has to include social media playing their part."
Google, Meta/Facebook, X and TikTok all have their European headquarters in Ireland.
Violent political extremism - far right
Gardaí say that following the economic crash, a right-wing ideology has emerged in Ireland which strengthened throughout Covid-19 during the consequent government restrictions.
This has given far right activists a whole range of measures to campaign on, the Assistant Commissioner said, such as anti-Government issues.
They also take on international themes such as the Great Replacement Theory from the US and anti-immigrant ideologies.
He said violent political extremists, as opposed to those with right wing sentiment, believe in the use of violence to achieve their ideology and that includes terrorism, arson, and rioting.
"We have seen that in O'Connell St, Coolock and recently in the UK," Assistant Commissioner McElgunn said "and not all of those who riot have a well-articulated ideology. They are involved in theft and looting and some are opportunists who want to have a go at the police".
The Crown Paints factory in Coolock has seen violent protests in the past month
The Garda’s Security and Intelligence Section has identified a small group of people who are "influencers and extremists" who want to create a divide in society and are enabled by social media.
"Social media works and is a very valuable tool for these individuals," the Assistant Commissioner said.
"Social media exists to make money. It’s based on advertising revenues and the algorithms are designed in such a way that if you have an interest in something it will show you more and more of that something."
"If that happens to be something that is related to terrorism or violent political extremism on the left or right, it will show you more and more of that material until you are drawn into an echo chamber where there’s no counter narrative."
"You’re only stuck with this world view and that is a rich breeding ground for the extremists," he said, "this is where they will harvest more and more of their people".
"There are relatively low numbers of key individuals operating in the state, many of them might well be known to people, others not so well known."
The gardaí also say that hostile states are also active in this online space and while they are unlikely to have been involved in the Coolock or O’Connell Street riots, the garda have seen disinformation messages online.
"It suits some hostile states who have an interest in undermining trust in the democratic order to undermine trust in the Government and agents of the state," the Assistant Commissioner said.
"Ireland won't be a key focus for them but they are certainly active."
He also said that while extremists are driving the violence, the gardaí are closely monitoring "a couple of dozen key people" who are "cautious" and "will bring it to the line but not over the line."
"Where they have, we have made interventions and used the Offences Against The State act as in a case in West Dublin", he said.
"We are watching closely. We will intervene from a national security perspective once they go over the line."
The role of the security and intelligence section is to support the on the ground policing operations by supplying Intelligence to the gardaí about particular risks and threats at protests.
People have a right to protest and the state must support those rights he said but there has been a pattern of an event, followed by disinformation, a false narrative, followed by protest which tips into violence.
The gardaí also say that violent political extremists operate in a different way to the 'cell like structure' of traditional terrorism.
"We are now gaining a better understanding of how they operate, we know who the key players are, we are monitoring them closely, we are making interventions and we are working very closely internationally at the challenges on the wider scale," the Assistant Commissioner said.
"I also think that the state and western democracies generally are realising the challenges posed by the misuse of social media, by influencers in that realm and we are now moving towards managing that threat as well."
Dissident Republicanism – Far Left
The gardaí say that violent political extremists can be on the far right and the far left and that in both cases they have a similar ideology and strategy in that they want to create a divide in society and polarise the state.
Dissident republicanism is viewed as the violent wing of the far left and while the threat here is low, the threat in Northern Ireland remains substantial meaning that an attack is deemed likely.
Gardaí say they are working closely with the PSNI and MI5, targeting individuals as part of what they see as "a shared threat" and therefore they are working as if the threat of an attack was also substantial here.
"Our efforts here are commensurate with the threat in Northern Ireland rather than the threat in this jurisdiction," the Assistant Commissioner said.
The first dissident group, the Continuity IRA emerged following the split in the provisional IRA following the ceasefire in 1996. It claims 'continuity’ from the first Dáil in 1919.
There was another split the following year which led to the formation of the Real IRA, responsible for the Omagh bombing.
In 2012, the Real IRA merged with a new group, the New IRA while another dissident group Arm na Poblachta comprised essentially of disenfranchised members of the Continuity IRA and others formed in 2017.
Gardaí say these two groupings pose the greatest threat today. They comprise of core groups and supporters with extended family links.
While they carry out attacks in Northern Ireland their activities here largely centre on weapons procurement, some engineering support, finance, fundraising and to a lesser extent in recruitment and some training.
Gardaí do not believe Arm na Poblachta has any significant presence in this jurisdiction but say the New IRA does and much of the Garda’s focus and collaboration with the PSNI in Northern Ireland is focussed on their activities here.
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