Russian bombers entered Irish-controlled airspace

Foreign military aircraft regularly enter Irish-controlled airspace unannounced, it has been claimed as details emerged of an incursion by two Russian ‘Bear’ bombers which flew within 90km of the Irish coast while “testing” RAF responses.

The long-range Tupolevs were shadowed by British fighter jets in a Cold War era-type game of cat and mouse which saw the giant bombers enter Irish-controlled airspace on a number of occasions last Wednesday.

Irish Aviation Industry sources said incursions into our air traffic control area — which extends to more than 480km off the coast — are a regular occurrence by military aircraft from a number of different countries.