Gardaí investigating report of drones near Dublin Airport during Zelensky visit
By Dave Clark, Press Association
Gardaí are investigating the presence of drones over Ireland during Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit.
Mr Zelensky gave a historic address to a joint sitting of the Oireachtas earlier this week and met with Government figures and President Catherine Connolly.
Mr Zelensky and his wife, Olena Zelenska, arrived in Dublin late on Monday night, with RTÉ reporting several unidentified drones were seen flying near Howth, over the Irish Sea, at around the time the Ukrainian president arrived at Dublin Airport.
Gardaí confirmed in a statement that a special detective unit was investigating the incident.
“As part of this, SDU will be liaising with the Defence Forces and international security partners,” the statement said.
The Russian ambassador to Ireland, Yuriy Filatov, said on Friday it was “hard to make sense of the visit” beyond it representing “the ever-present desire of the Irish government to show loyalty to the EU anti-Russian policy line on Ukraine”.
In a statement, Mr Filatov said Irish political leaders were living in an “illusionary world that has nothing to do with the realities” of the war in Ukraine.
He criticised Taoiseach Micheál Martin for using the “Slava Ukraini” – or “Glory to Ukraine” – phrase, with the ambassador comparing the greeting to “Heil Hitler”.
Asked about the comments at the British-Irish Council summit in Cardiff, Mr Martin said Mr Filatov had a “track record” of attacking him and the Government “on a consistent basis”.
He said: “We’re very, very clear: The invasion of Ukraine by Russia was a fundamental, brutal violation of the United Nations Charter, and no power can behave in such a manner.
“The destruction of Ukraine, killing of so many people, and the destruction of civilian infrastructure and energy infrastructure on the scale that has happened is reprehensible.
“I would say to the Russian ambassador to please bring back the message to the Russian government to please engage and stop this war.”
Mr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ireland is one of the few European countries that “understands the price of freedom” as he praised the country for its support.
In the first visit to Ireland by a Ukrainian president, Mr Zelensky and Mr Martin both drew parallels between Ukraine’s struggle for sovereignty and Ireland’s centuries-long fight for independence.
Mr Zelensky said Ireland’s decision to back Ukraine in the early days of the war was a moral one and while some had grown fatigued with hearing about Ukraine’s war, he said Ireland’s voice had not become “quieter”.
He said that while Ireland was neutral, it was “certainly not an indifferent country” and thanked “every Irish home” that has sheltered some of the 120,000 Ukrainians that arrived in the country since 2022.
In the historic address to parliamentarians, where he received a standing ovation in the Dáil chamber, he urged Ireland to take “an active role” in calling for a tribunal for Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
