Sources from various publications with intelligence information claim that a member of parliament was recruited by Russians in 2019, at a time when the Russian Federation was attempting to exacerbate tensions between Ireland and the United Kingdom related to the UK's exit from the European Union (Brexit).
Reports indicate that the police urged the legislator to cease contacts with Russians, but "he did not comply." However, the investigation revealed that the parliamentarian did not receive any money from the Russians and did not pass on any confidential documents to them.
Journalists did not disclose the name of the individual recruited by Russia (The Times refers to him as Cobalt) and emphasized that he continues to work in Parliament within the left opposition faction, has not been arrested, and has not faced any charges since he does not have access to classified materials, thus he cannot disclose their contents to a hostile state.
According to media reports, the likely recruiter of the Irish individual was Sergey Prokopyev – one of the four employees of the Russian embassy who were expelled from Ireland for espionage in March 2022. Prokopyev allegedly continued to "work" with the parliamentarian even after his expulsion through a woman who periodically visited Dublin "to establish a romantic relationship with the politician," in order to compromise him (the channel GB News reminded that this method of recruitment is known as a "honey trap").
Politico noted that leftist ideology in the Irish parliament is upheld by deputies elected from the People Before Profit – Solidarity alliance. The group consists of five deputies: one woman and four men. Richard Boyd Barrett from this group urged the authorities to take action, stating that "anyone who has been compromised by any external force instead of serving the interests of ordinary people must be held accountable," as reported by The Guardian.
In response to journalists' questions about the "Russian agent" in Parliament, Irish Prime Minister Simon Harris stated that he cannot confirm this information, but "it should not come as a surprise to anyone." He emphasized that since the onset of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, such actions by Russian intelligence have intensified not only in Ireland but also elsewhere.
The Russian embassy in Ireland labeled the media publications about the recruited agent as "primitive anti-Russian fabrications."