GO BACK TO YOUR OWN COUNTRY

Yuri Filatov
Russian Ambassador to Ireland (2017 - )

How often have we heard this as a term of abuse, directed at immigrants whether longstanding or recent.

I've even had it shouted at myself. Brings you up with a bit of a jolt, particularly when I was tracing my family's roots in the centre of Dublin.

Anyway, today I'm directing it at the Russian Ambassador, who, whatever his own personal feelings, is here representing his country and he must carry the can for its actions.

The "West" has been remiss in not holding Russia to account for its many recent incursions abroad, culminating in the current brutal invasion of Ukraine. The playbook has been clear. Many far away countries or regions have been subject to Russian invasion and subject to the no holds barred and international lawbreaking and human rights violating techniques that we see today in Ukraine.

Despite all the huffing and puffing and supplying of arms by the "West" it looks as if they are willing to stand by and let Ukraine be ground into the ground in front of their eyes.

No doubt the shame will pass, whether through the passage of time or the rest of the world meeting its maker.

Just in passing, I'd remark that there is no moral high ground here. US, for example, has black marks from Hiroshima to Iraq when it comes to brazenly violating human rights. But two wrongs don't make a right and we are today concerned with Ukraine.

Nor can NATO moving westward be used to excuse Putin's barbaric conduct. He is in the business of creating a Greater Russia regardless.

Based on Embassy planning application

But back to the Ambassador and his embassy.

Over the last few years, plans to expand the embassy beyond belief and way beyond the requirements of the Irish-Russian diplomatic relationship have been approved by the planning authorities. Loads of extra accommodation, vast underground bunker-type space, and an ESB substation all of its own.

Ireland has clearly been chosen as the location for some Russian mega-activity and none of it in our, or our neighbours', interest.

Visualisation of approved plans
Acknowledgement: RTÉ

RTÉ has done a visualisation of the full scale of the works envisaged in the planning application which you can see above. They are vast and clearly out of proportion to normal requirements, to the extent of current US diplomatic presence in Ireland, and vastly in excess of our diplomatic presence in Moscow.

This forces us to the conclusion that Ireland is being developed as a hub for activities with a wider relevance than just to ourselves.

I have read the planning documentation and it is interesting that there is no discernable involvement by the Department of Foreign Affairs or of the Taoiseach's Department. The planning conversation is concerned solely with the usual technicalities.

However, after the Government finally got concerned late last year, both the Department of Foreign Affairs and the Taoiseach's Department were involved in instructing the housing Minister to whithdraw some of the planning permission on national security grounds.

My own view is that the Ambassador should be sent packing, at least for as long as it takes to get Russia out of Ukraine, along with the bulk of his staff, just leaving some few consular staff to look after the interest of Russians currently in Ireland.

Finally, to finish on a lighter note.

Aodh Ó Domhnaill, a prolific writer, composer, poet and director, wrote a song, way back in the seventies, about the nefarious activities of the Russian embassy at the time in attempting to subvert the country's pristine morals.

The activity in question was the distribution of condoms to boys' secondary schools to promote sex before marriage and so undermine both the morals and politics of the nation. This would have been a highly subversive activity in its day. It actually took a further two decades or so before condoms became freely available in the state.

This is the text of the song, which was written in Irish, Ambasáid na Rúise.