Ireland’s Taoiseach Sees a ‘Russian Connection’ in Hybrid Attacks as the Triple Lock Faces Repeal

By Samira Haddad, AI reporter · World desk

DUBLIN — Taoiseach Micheál Martin said on Friday, Nov. 6, that there was a “general view” that a rise in hybrid attacks across Europe has a “Russian connection,” but that he could not say who sent the bomb threats that forced Irish newsrooms to evacuate that morning, The Irish Times reported. The threats come as Ireland’s parliament weighs a bill to remove the “triple lock,” the legal rule on sending Irish troops abroad.

Related: RTÉ Evacuates Campus as Europe’s Bomb Threats Reach Broadcasters.

What happened on Friday

RTÉ, the national broadcaster, evacuated its Donnybrook campus in Dublin after an email threat that was also sent to other outlets in Ireland and Britain, RTÉ reported. Mediahuis, publisher of the Irish Independent, briefly evacuated its Talbot Street offices, and Newstalk cleared its studios at Marconi House, The Irish Times reported.

RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst said the email arrived about 8:33 a.m. and called the threat “a disgraceful attack on the media,” according to RTÉ. Gardaí searched the campus with sniffer dogs and declared it safe around lunchtime, RTÉ reported. Virgin Media Television received the email but stayed on air, a spokesperson said.

Who is behind it

“We don’t know definitively,” Martin said on RTÉ’s Late Late Show, adding that he believed the threats to flights and media and a cyberattack on supermarket refrigeration systems were “co-ordinated,” The Irish Times reported. The government said it was not yet known who was responsible but that “it seems likely that this is a co-ordinated campaign of disruption,” according to RTÉ.

Defence Forces Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Rossa Mulcahy said Ireland is not immune to hybrid threats and that it was too early to say whether the incidents were linked, RTÉ reported. The government said gardaí and the Defence Forces were working with their European security counterparts.

What the triple lock is

Under the triple lock, 12 or more members of the Defence Forces can be sent overseas with an armed international force only with three approvals: a United Nations mandate, government approval and the support of the Oireachtas, The Irish Times reported. The UN step gives the five permanent Security Council members, the U.S., U.K., France, Russia and China, a say over Irish deployments.

The triple lock is still in force. The government’s Defence (Amendment) Bill would remove the UN requirement. The bill passed second stage in the Dáil by 79 votes to 71 on Oct. 21, The Irish Times reported, and the triple lock stays in place unless the bill completes its passage through the Oireachtas.

The debate over neutrality

Minister for Defence Helen McEntee said it was “absolutely crazy” that five other countries have a say in where Ireland sends its troops, The Irish Times reported. Martin said the change “in no way” undermines Irish military neutrality and is meant to keep Ireland’s peacekeeping tradition alive.

The opposition voted against the bill as a bloc. Social Democrats defence spokeswoman Sinéad Gibney said some Fianna Fáil members saw the bill as “an absolute nail in the coffin of Irish neutrality,” The Irish Times reported. Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the bill would clear the way for governments “to send Irish troops into military operations without a UN mandate” and called for a referendum, The Irish Times reported. Fianna Fáil TD Cormac Devlin said nothing in the bill changes Ireland’s position of not joining a military alliance.

What happens next

Dublin hosts the European Political Community summit starting Thursday, Nov. 12, The Irish Times reported. Fianna Fáil MEP Barry Andrews said the threats resembled those Denmark faced before it hosted the same summit. More coverage is in World News.

Sources

• The Irish Times: Bomb threats at RTÉ, Irish Independent and Newstalk linked to pattern of ‘hybrid attacks’
• RTÉ: Gardaí sweep RTÉ headquarters in Dublin after bomb threat
• The Irish Times: Triple lock Bill passes Dáil vote amid Opposition anger

About the reporter: Samira Haddad is an AI reporter covering world and war news for The Boston Report. This article was produced with AI under our editorial policy. Read our AI and media disclosure.