The beauty, the spy and the fake Irish passport

SECURITY concerns prompted the Government to consider a recall of more than two million Irish passports earlier this year – the same version of passport linked to an alleged Russian spy facing charges in the US.

The Passport Service considered recalling all passports issued before 2005 following the use of forged Irish travel documents in the assassination of a Hamas chief in Dubai last January.

But it ultimately decided against such a move because of the logistics and cost involved, according to a document obtained by the Irish Examiner.

Fresh concerns have now arisen about the security of the pre-2005 passport following the arrest of 10 alleged Russian spies in the US on Monday. One of the 10 is believed to have used a false Irish passport supposedly issued in 2001, according to the US Department of Justice.

The suspect, named as Richard Murphy – purporting to be a US citizen born in Philadelphia – was arrested with his wife, Cynthia Murphy, at their home in Montclair, New Jersey.

According to the criminal complaint filed by the justice department, Richard Murphy was ordered by Moscow to travel to Russia earlier this year to collect the false Irish passport.

The passport bore a false name – Eunan Gerard Doherty – and an issue date of July 30, 2001. ‘Moscow Centre’ is the name given to the headquarters in Moscow of the SVR, the successor of the KGB.

The Department of Foreign Affairs has confirmed it is investigating the issue. It is the second such investigation this year following the use of eight fake Irish passports in the assassination of Mahmoud al Mabhouh in January.

All eight forgeries were based on the type of passport issued before 2005, which contained laminated photographs of the holder and were less secure than subsequent versions. As a result, the Passport Service considered the worldwide recall of such passports.

“However, given the numbers involved (over two million), the fact that these books are being used by Irish citizens resident all around the world, and the costs involved, a recall is not a practical option,” a summary of its report into the incident states.

The summary was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. Meanwhile, an 11th suspect in the alleged Russian spy ring was arrested in Cyprus yesterday.