Caolan Robertson

@CaolanReports

I’m a full-time Irish journalist based in Kyiv. For 3 years, I’ve reported from the front lines of the east & south of Ukraine. I covered the fall of Assad on the ground in Damascus, followed new front lines being dug in Estonia, and I confront Russian propagandists across Europe, face to face.

I’m fully independent with no shady backers, no AI and no nonsense

June 3, 2026

Every day, ships leave this russian owned factory in Ireland straight for St Petersburg carrying thousands of tonnes of raw alumina for the war machine.

There’s corruption everywhere. Locals tell me politicians are bought by oligarchs.

Ireland is no longer militarily neutral.

(Please read on after Caolan’s report) :

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Extract from a recent DT article :

Britain fears Ireland is a ‘back door’ for Russian spies

The republic approves 90% of visa applications and shares a common travel area with the UK

Lily Shanagher

May 30, 2026

Whitehall officials fear that Ireland has become a “back door” to Britain for Russian spiesbecause of its generous visa programme, an Irish politician has said.

Barry Andrews, a former children’s minister in the Irish government, and current member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Dublin, said officials in the UK had warned him about the number of visas that Ireland has extended to Russians.

“Ireland doesn’t have the most sophisticated intelligence services compared to the UK. The UK is worried that Ireland is a back door,” the Fianna Fáil MEP said, “so people come to Ireland, we don’t really have the surveillance capacity the UK does.”

Ireland has granted 14,000 visas to Russians since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – an approval rate of 90 per cent.

Mr Andrews told News Talk: “I’m concerned about whether or not we’re carrying out sufficient due diligence about these applications, whether the grants are robust and whether we have reason to be concerned about Russian nefarious activities in Ireland.”

“Unfortunately, there’s quite a lot of evidence of nefarious activities by Russia in Ireland.”

Ireland is one of only two EU member states that are not part of the Schengen area, which has its own visa process. It is instead a member of the Common Travel Area, along with the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.

The Schengen visa area implemented restrictions on Russians arriving after the invasion of Ukraine, and officials are considering a ban on anyone who took part in the war.

‘Ireland is in the crosshairs’

In July, Ireland will be given the EU presidency, which “puts a target on your back”, Mr Andrews added, pointing to other countries that had airports shut down and infrastructure allegedly targeted by Russia while holding the position.

“Ireland is in the crosshairs and I think it’s the right time for us to have a proper X-ray of granting visas to Russians and Belarusians,” he said.

He called for immigration officials to check social media profiles, and to conduct interviews with applicants.

In 2024, The Sunday Times reported that an unnamed Irish parliamentarian was under criminal investigation over suspected clandestine contacts with Russia’s intelligence services amid claims they had acted as an agent of influence for the Kremlin during the Brexit talks.

Cathal Berry, then a member of the Irish parliament and an ex-army ranger, called his country a “playground” for Russians because of its “extensive assets and poor security culture”.

Mr Berry said Ireland was a target for hybrid attacks and influence operations as it did not have adequate security, and was a base for many US multinationals and technology companies.

In 2018, Russia’s diplomats in Dublin applied for planning permission to expand its embassy in the city, but were refused by the Irish government.

After the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, four senior Russian diplomats were expelled from the country because their activities were “not in accordance with the international standards of diplomatic behaviour”, the Taoiseach said at the time.

Security sources told The Irish Times that the diplomats had previously been identified as probable members of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence unit, and that they may have used diplomatic cover to carry out intelligence-gathering activities.

The Telegraph has approached the Foreign and Commonwealth Office for comment.