{"id":181014,"date":"2025-12-08T12:28:06","date_gmt":"2025-12-08T12:28:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/181014\/"},"modified":"2025-12-08T12:28:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-08T12:28:06","slug":"rogue-drones-during-zelenskiy-visit-part-of-co-ordinated-threat-to-europe-says-minister-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/181014\/","title":{"rendered":"Rogue drones during Zelenskiy visit part of \u2018co-ordinated threat\u2019 to Europe, says Minister \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rogue drones launched as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy<\/a> was arriving in Ireland were not controlled by some \u201cback garden enthusiast\u201d but likely tied to a \u201cco-ordinated threat\u201d to European interests, Minister for Justice Jim O\u2019Callaghan<\/a> has said. <\/p>\n

The appearance of several drones off the coast of Ireland<\/a> shortly after the Ukrainian leader\u2019s flight was arriving last week has brought questions about the State\u2019s ability to counter instances of possible foreign interference into focus. <\/p>\n

It is understood the drones flew into the path Mr Zelenskiy\u2019s aircraft had taken approaching Ireland some time beforehand, about 13 nautical miles off the coast. <\/p>\n

Speaking on Monday, Mr O\u2019Callaghan said it was clear the drones were not controlled by some \u201cback garden drone enthusiast\u201d and investigations were continuing into the incident. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s fair to say that we think this is part of a co-ordinated threat to EU and Ukrainian interests,\u201d the Minister said in Brussels. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt certainly wasn\u2019t a back garden drone enthusiast, I suppose our suspicion is that this was drones that were generated for the purpose of putting pressure on EU and indeed Ukrainian interests,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

It is understood footage of the drones was captured by the crew of the Naval Service\u2019s LE William Butler Yeats. The incident is believed to have been intended to cause embarrassment to the Republic.<\/p>\n

The incident highlights potential weaknesses in the State\u2019s defence capabilities, a little more than six months out from Ireland taking over the EU council presidency, a role that will entail hosting European heads of state and other foreign delegations for high-level meetings. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Drones spotted near Zelenskiy\u2019s flight path to Dublin, triggering major security alertOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Mysterious drones have caused disruption in several European capital cities, including Copenhagen and Brussels, necessitating the temporary shutdown of big airports. Drones have also been spotted flying over military sites. <\/p>\n

The strong belief is that Russia is behind the interference, using drones to cause disruption in Europe and to embarrass pro-Ukrainian governments. <\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Callaghan said the garda\u00ed did a \u201cvery good job\u201d in ensuring the security of Mr Zelenskiy\u2019s official visit to Ireland. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s an investigation ongoing in respect of the presence of drones out in Dublin Bay,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not just an issue in respect of Ireland but throughout the European Union; there are issues in respect of greater threats being exposed as a result of drone technology,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

The Fianna F\u00e1il Minister said he had not yet reached any determination about whether a state actor was likely behind the drones launched off of Dublin. <\/p>\n

[\u00a0Zelenskiy visit brings politics of a world at war to IrelandOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously I get a lot of information from An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na in respect of issues concerning our security, but I think it\u2019s fair to say that we think this is part of a co-ordinated threat to EU and Ukrainian interests,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters in Dublin on Monday, Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin said there had been a \u201csignificant escalation\u201d of \u201chybrid attacks\u201d against EU member states which are believed to originate in Russia.<\/p>\n

Referencing a \u201cpattern\u201d of drone incidents in Denmark and Belgium, Mr Martin said the development was \u201cin many ways not a surprise\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn respect of the specifics of the drones emerging in Ireland, the National Security Council will be meeting shortly in respect of that and I\u2019ll get a comprehensive report on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Martin said the Government was increasing spending and increasing capabilities on defence ahead of Ireland holding the Council of the EU presidency in the second half of next year.<\/p>\n

The Cabinet is expected to hear plans this week for \u20ac1.7 billion spending on defence equipment and infrastructure up to 2030<\/a> under the revised National Development Plan \u2013 with about \u20ac300 million to be available next year.<\/p>\n

The Government is expected to allocate between \u20ac15 million and \u20ac17 million next year as part of an accelerated programme to acquire technology to track and intercept drones. <\/p>\n

The drone initiative will represent the first component of an overall military radar programme, likely to be the most expensive defence project in the history of the State and which the Government wants fully in place by 2028.<\/p>\n

Mr O\u2019Callaghan said boosting the Defence Forces\u2019 ability to counter malicious drones was \u201csomething that\u2019s very important in light of what we\u2019ve seen recently\u201d. <\/p>\n

The Minister was speaking in Brussels, where he was attending a meeting of justice ministers to discuss migration policy. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rogue drones launched as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy was arriving in Ireland were not controlled by some \u201cback…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":181015,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[9691,61,60,18573,43,58419],"class_list":["post-181014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-department-of-justice","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-jim-ocallaghan","tag-news","tag-volodymyr-zelenskiy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=181014"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/181014\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/181015"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=181014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=181014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=181014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}