{"id":493028,"date":"2026-06-10T20:01:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T20:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/493028\/"},"modified":"2026-06-10T20:01:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T20:01:11","slug":"aughinish-alumina-ireland-will-not-support-any-measures-that-help-putins-war-machine-tanaiste","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/493028\/","title":{"rendered":"Aughinish Alumina: Ireland will not support any measures that help Putin\u2019s war machine \u2013 T\u00e1naiste"},"content":{"rendered":"

T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris has said \u201cIreland will not support any measures that help assist Putin\u2019s war machine\u201d as an investigation into the use of alumina produced in Limerick continues.<\/p>\n

Both Mr Harris and Taoiseach Miche\u00e1l Martin said a probe by the Department of Enterprise into Aughinish Alumina<\/a> must be allowed to be completed. However, neither said they would push back against the inclusion of alumina on further EU sanction lists.<\/p>\n

In March, The Irish Times and the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project published an investigation examining Aughinish\u2019s alleged role in supporting Russia\u2019s military industry.<\/p>\n

It highlighted claims the Limerick alumina refinery exported large quantities of alumina to Russia, where it is smelted and used by manufacturers producing weapons deployed on the Ukrainian frontline.<\/p>\n

CSO figures on Aughinish disputed\u00a0<\/p>\n

Recent CSO figures appeared to show that 200,619 tonnes, or 83% of Aughinish\u2019s total exports, were shipped to Russia during the first quarter of 2026. However, enterprise minister Peter Burke said those figures are “inaccurate”<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While the EU did not include alumina in its latest EU sanctions list, the EU\u2019s foreign affairs chief, Kaja Kallas, said<\/a> no EU product should end up in the Russian war effort.<\/p>\n

Ireland\u2019s European presidency<\/p>\n

At the launch of Ireland\u2019s European presidency<\/a>, the T\u00e1naiste, who is also finance minister, said Ireland has been \u201cto the forefront of supporting every sanctions package to date\u201d, and that sanctions work because it \u201chits\u201d Russian president Vladimir \u201cPutin where it hurts in terms of an impact on the Russian economy\u201d.<\/p>\n

When asked if the Government believes further sanctions should include alumina, Mr Harris said Ireland cannot \u201ccherry-pick\u201d when it comes to sanctions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be very careful we allow the investigation to do its work,\u201d he said. \u201cIt’s very clear \u2014 Ireland will not support any measures that help assist Putin\u2019s war machine.<\/p>\n

\"ForeignForeign affairs and defence minister Helen McEntee discuss the issue of Aughinish Alumina and exports to Russia in Dublin on Tuesday\u00a0with EU High Representative for foreign affairs and security policy Kaja Kallas. Picture: Leah Farrell\/RollingNews<\/p>\n

\u201cThe question here is to establish the facts. I think the actions being taken by the Department of Enterprise are appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the report will be completed in less than two weeks and will be given to the European Commission for analysis.<\/p>\n

EU’s ‘most severe sanctions’ on Russia<\/p>\n

Mr Martin said the latest round of sanctions proposed by the EU are \u201cprobably the most severe sanctions yet\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said that the \u201cfull facts\u201d about what is happening at Aughinish Alumina are required and the \u201cpotential interdependence between that facility and needs within Europe has to be fully bottomed out\u201d.<\/p>\n

Mr Martin said this is a \u201cvery serious issue\u201d and will be dealt with \u201ccomprehensively\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do not, in any way, want to be either indirectly or through some of this material, aiding or supporting Russia’s military process against the Ukrainian people.”<\/p>\n

Louise Burne, Political Correspondent<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris has said \u201cIreland will not support any measures that help assist Putin\u2019s war machine\u201d as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493029,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[185200,61,60,43,3589,2040],"class_list":["post-493028","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-limerick-news","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-russia","tag-ukraine"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493028","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=493028"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493028\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493028"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493028"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493028"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}