{"id":490000,"date":"2026-06-09T03:37:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T03:37:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/490000\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T03:37:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T03:37:08","slug":"ukrainian-foreign-minister-calls-for-swift-conclusion-to-irish-aughinish-alumina-investigation-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/490000\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukrainian foreign minister calls for swift conclusion to Irish Aughinish Alumina investigation \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ukraine\u2019s foreign minister has called for the State\u2019s investigation to be conducted \u201cswiftly, independently and transparently\u201d after reports that alumina from the Aughinish Alumina plant<\/a> in Co Limerick was feeding the Russian military supply chain.<\/p>\n

In a statement, Andrii Sybiha said aluminium was a critical component of Russian missiles and drones used against Ukraine. He welcomed the investigation, adding: \u201cUkraine will continue working with Ireland, EU institutions, and international partners to strengthen sanctions pressure on Moscow and close gaps that enable Russia\u2019s defence industry to operate.<\/p>\n

The European Commission<\/a>\u2019s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas will discuss the issue when she meets Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin<\/a> on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Kallas, a commission vice-president and Europe\u2019s high representative for foreign affairs, will be in Dublin<\/a> for talks in advance of Ireland\u2019s upcoming European Union<\/a> presidency, which begins next month.<\/p>\n

The Department of Enterprise<\/a> is investigating potential links between the facility and the manufacture of Russian<\/a> arms used in its war against Ukraine<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In March, an Irish Times investigation, carried out in co-operation with the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project, found that Aughinish\u2019s Co Limerick<\/a> plant was shipping vast amounts of alumina to smelters in Russia<\/a>, where it is used to make aluminium, which is then sold to a trading company, ASK, that supplies dozens of Russian arms manufacturers.<\/p>\n

The issue of Aughinish Alumina was raised by a reporter at a European Commission press briefing on Monday.<\/p>\n

A commission spokeswoman said Kallas would be meeting the Taoiseach and \u201cseveral topics will be discussed including the EU support of Ukraine, also pressure on Russia and also this specific topic will be addressed as a matter of concern\u201d.<\/p>\n

On the question of alumina being included in EU sanctions, another commission spokeswoman said: \u201cWe never comment on our upcoming sanctions packages. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are, with every sanctions package, looking at ways that we can close loopholes, always as I\u2019ve said repeatedly with a goal to maximising pressure on Russia and minimising any revenues that they would take from this war. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo beyond that we really can\u2019t say more than that. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe always appreciate the work of investigative journalists because they play a fundamental part of what we do on look at further measures but I can\u2019t comment on a specific case at this time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meanwhile T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris has said that the Government\u2019s Aughinish Alumina investigation is expected to be completed this month.<\/p>\n

Speaking on Tonight with Gavin Reilly on Virgin Media TV, Harris said the European Commission was briefed on the investigation being carried out by the Department of Enterprise on Monday.<\/p>\n

Harris said it is expected investigation will \u201cbe completed this month, possibly within the next two weeks or so.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIt\u2019s important we see, bring clarity to this as quickly as possible. <\/p>\n

\u201cIreland, the Irish people want to have absolutely no truck whatsoever with supporting Russia.\u201d<\/p>\n

During a separate press conference at a Renew Europe event in Cork, the Taoiseach was asked about Ireland\u2019s stance on Aughinish Alumina and any potential sanctions. <\/p>\n

He noted a Department of Enterprise investigation is under way and said: \u201cEuropean sanctions are a European competence and the commission engages with member states.\u201d<\/p>\n

Martin added: \u201cWe have concerns clearly but we will, as soon as we have completed our work through the Department of Enterprise … We will engage with the commission and with our colleagues in respect of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

He also said: \u201cAt the outset from my perspective, my understanding \u2013 this is a wider European supply chain issue, not just one specific to Aughinish or to Ireland so alumina was not on the sanctions list from the beginning of this war.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fianna F\u00e1il<\/a> Ireland South MEP Billy Kelleher<\/a> was also present and said: \u201cThe first principle of sanctions is to do more harm to the enemy than to yourself and there is an investigation being carried out by the department.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ukraine\u2019s foreign minister has called for the State\u2019s investigation to be conducted \u201cswiftly, independently and transparently\u201d after reports…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":440077,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[163884,2045,38262,5148,1712,895,61,60,1396,1843,43,3589,9688],"class_list":["post-490000","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-aughinish-alumina","tag-billy-kelleher","tag-department-of-enterprise-trade-and-employment","tag-european-union","tag-european-commission","tag-fianna-fail","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-limerick","tag-micheal-martin","tag-news","tag-russia","tag-ukraine-crisis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490000","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=490000"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490000\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/440077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490000"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490000"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490000"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}