Footage of drones off the Irish coast during Ukrainian president's visit may be kept from the public

Taoiseach Micheál Martin (left) said he believed the Defence Forces had taken the correct decision in not shooting down the drones that appeared on the night Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy (right) had flown into Dublin Airport earlier this month. Photo: Government Information Service

The public may never be shown official footage of unidentified drones flying off the Irish coast during Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to Dublin earlier this month.

The incident occurred on the night Mr Zelenskyy had flown into Dublin Airport, when the crew on the naval vessel LÉ William Butler Yeats spotting several drones flying off the coast of Howth.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin said he believed the Defence Forces had taken the correct decision in not shooting down the drones.

When asked by the Irish Examiner when the public could expect to see Defence Forces footage of the incident, Mr Martin replied: “You’re assuming that you’re going to see it.”

He added that any decision relating to security matters had to take into account the best interests of the State, and he and senior ministers, including Tánaiste Simon Harris, had received “a very detailed briefing” on the incident last week.

“On the operational response from our personnel there, in my view, I think the correct decision was taken and the correct approach, and there’s an investigation under way at the moment, so obviously nothing can happen until that investigation is concluded,” he said.

“An Garda Síochána are now formally investigating that, I had a detailed briefing with the [Defence Forces Chief of Staff] and his team, and from the Garda Commissioner, in terms of the broader visit of President Zelenskyy, which in terms of security was a successful visit. 

"It’s important to state that, and also to state that the drones did not constitute a threat to civilians, in any shape or form.” 

The Taoiseach said he was “absolutely backing” the Defence Forces’ decision not to fire on the drones.

“We have to trust in operational decision making, and I support the approach of the Defence Forces,” he added.

“It reflects a broader pattern of activity across Europe in terms of hybrid incidents of this kind. We’re not the first country in Europe in recent times to have drones emerging, and it’s an evolving situation.” 

Presidential election

Separately, Mr Martin was again asked about a fractious parliamentary party meeting at the start of last week following the publication of an internal review of Fianna Fáil’s doomed presidential election campaign.

Mr Martin said he still intends to lead the party into the next general election despite internal criticism of his handling of a process that saw Jim Gavin selected as the Fianna Fáil presidential candidate, only to later bow out of the race when it emerged he had failed to return money that was overpaid by a tenant. 

“The overwhelming view of the party was to concentrate and to focus on the issues that matter to the Irish people,” he said.

“Yes, we had to do what we had to do in terms of the review of the presidential election, but more fundamentally, TDs and senators are saying to me 'continue doing what you are doing as Taoiseach' in terms of focusing on the core issues facing the Irish people: housing, the infrastructure delivery, disability, child poverty, and also the wider issue of the international situation.” 

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Last week saw scathing responses from Cork North Central TD Pádraig O’Sullivan and Cork East TD James O’Connor — both of whom are politically close to Billy Kelleher — following the publication of the party review.

Mr O’Sullivan had described any claims that due diligence had been appropriately conducted of Jim Gavin’s potential candidacy as “farcical”, while Mr O’Connor said the Taoiseach had “lost the dressing room”.

Mr Martin indicated he was not going to respond, saying he was moving on, before then adding: “I have a lot of experience of dressing rooms throughout my life, in Cork as well, and I know how to keep a dressing room”.