Marina Sologub: Who is the Cork-raised woman declared a security risk in Australia?
Marina Sologub (pictured) worked for former Cork Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen for a period in 2010. Picture: LinkedIn
Last weekend, an Irish-Russian citizen who grew up in Cork had her Australian visa cancelled on national security grounds.
No charges have been brought against Marina Sologub, 39, and she has not been convicted of any crime in Australia.
Australian authorities have, in recent months, been cancelling the visas of people who they say may have direct or indirect links to the Russian government, citing potential direct or indirect national security risks.
Marina Sologub was born in Kazakhstan, but grew up in Glanmire, Co. Cork. According to her CV, she completed a Masters degree in Government at University College Cork (UCC) in 2012.
She says that she worked as a parliamentary assistant in the Dáil for former Labour TD Willie Penrose in 2008 and 2009. She also says she worked for former Cork Fine Gael TD Bernard Allen for a period in 2010.
Mr Penrose disputes this claim, however. He says that Ms Sologub completed work experience in his Westmeath constituency office and was never a paid employee.
Bernard Allen told the he was "gobsmacked" by the revelations about Ms Sologub. “She worked with me for four to six months. She would have helped with my parliamentary work," he told the paper.
“I am gobsmacked to hear about this. I remember her well. She came to me as a student looking for experience. She would have worked between the constituency office and the Dáil."
On her LinkedIn profile, Ms Sologub states that she began working with Ireland's National Space Centre, located near Midleton, Co. Cork, in July 2011.
During her more than six years at the National Space Centre, Ms Sologub says she helped advance its relationships with Fortune 500 Global companies and "developed a database of qualified leads through referrals, cold calling, direct mail, email campaigns and networking in North America, EMEA and Russia."
Her profile also notes that she was responsible for "the management of the annual European Satellite Navigation Competition in Ireland under the auspice of the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency".
After leaving the centre in July 2017, Ms Sologub began working with Ervia - the parent company of Uisce Éireann and Bord Gáis - first as a tender administrator, and then as a supply chain manager.
In September 2020, Ms Sologub states that she then began working as head of business development and marketing with SpaceSpecialists Ltd in Adelaide, South Australia.
According to the , she moved to Adelaide after being nominated for a “distinguished talent visa" in February 2020.
In March 2021, she began working for consultancy firm Deloitte in Australia, where her profile says she "supported the development of Lunar Ascent operations, [the] first Australian mission to the moon" and wrote submissions "for the Australian Space Agency".
Her most recent position was as procurement advisor for the City of Marion, a local government area that encompasses some of the southern and western suburbs of Adelaide.
On February 22, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) announced that Marina Sologub had been flagged as a potential security threat.
The ASIO is the national security agency responsible for the protection of Australia and its citizens from espionage, sabotage, acts of foreign interference, politically motivated violence, as well as attacks on its defence system, and terrorism.
It is understood that the ASIO, the Australian equivalent to the FBI in the US or MI5 in the UK, then advised the Australian government to cancel her visa.
On Sunday, Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Micheál Martin confirmed that Marina Sologub had contacted the Department of Foreign Affairs in Australia for consular services.
“The Australian government – it’s a matter for them in terms of their security situation, and they don’t necessarily contact us in respect of security concerns that they have or in respect of deportations that they make as a result of security concerns," he told RTÉ's programme
Despite the actions taken by the ASIO and Australian government, there is no evidence or suggestion that Ms Sologub had engaged in anything untoward during her life here in Ireland.
It is also unclear precisely why the ASIO flagged her as a potential security risk.
"The Department of Foreign Affairs is aware of the case in Australia, further to contact made by the citizen there," a spokesperson told
"The department provides consular assistance to Irish citizens where requested and appropriate."
The spokesperson added that the department "cannot intervene in matters related to another country’s immigration decisions".
"Australia’s national security and immigration policies are, of course, matters for the authorities there. As with all consular cases, the department does not comment on the details of any individual matter.”
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