Irish should expel Russian diplomat after spy passport fraud

Posted on Tuesday, July 06, 2010 at 08:26 AM

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It is time to expel a Russian diplomat from Ireland after the Eunan Doherty passport saga.

Doherty, a native of Donegal has been informed that his passport or a false version of it was used by New Jersey Russian spy Richard Murphy on a trip he took to Moscow in February of this year.

If the Irish government does not expel a diplomat they will be accused of double standards given the fact that they expelled an Israeli diplomat after a similar fraud incident.

It is now clear that Russian Embassy officials in Dublin duplicated the passport of Eunan Doherty, a Donegal fireman who went on vacation to Russia in 2005.

He submitted his passport to the embassy and they clearly made an exact replica of it.

We have no idea how many other passports may have been duplicated in this great game of espionage, but it is starting to get very serious for Irish passport holders.

Because Ireland is a small, neutral country the passports are highly prized.

The U.S.during the Iran Contra affair, Israel and now Russia have clearly duplicated them and used them on missions which have placed other Irish citizens in potential jeopardy.

After all, once it becomes obvious that Irish passports are the preferred mode of transport for spies then it places enormous pressure on authorities in other countries to closely scrutinize everyone who holds them.

It is time the Irish government made another strong statement in this regard and expelled a Russian diplomat, if as seems certain, this latest breach of international law is confirmed.

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wardy43 | Jul 09, 2010, 04:46 PM EDT

The two incidents are certainly not "similar". The question I have is, why did the Irish authorities not move to extradite the holder of the fake passport? More kow-towing to Uncle Sam!

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WoundedKnee | Jul 07, 2010, 12:11 PM EDT

The Israelis don't value human life the way we do. Well, the way most normal people do--I'll leave IrishandProud out of that category.

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GeorgeDavis | Jul 07, 2010, 06:36 AM EDT

irishandproud: Pretty disgusting to see someone who claims to be Irish defend murder. We had similar murders in the North of Ireland, I guess you defended them too. As regards the victim being a "mass killer"... Really? When/where was the trial? Who did he kill? What did the defense argue in that case? What authority did the sentencing judge have? And when are we going to see the trial for the "mass killers" who killed over a thousand people in one crazed orgy of killing in Gaza a year or two back?

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IrishAndProud | Jul 07, 2010, 02:55 AM EDT

George, we don't even know for sure if the Israeli's did in that particular terrorist...but even if they did, GOOD...FOR...THEM. That piece of sh-t was a terrorist, and if you want to chide Israel for 'murdering' a mass killer (who would have kept right on killing, indefinitely) then that's more of a reflection on YOU than anyone else.

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Monsoonman | Jul 06, 2010, 09:16 PM EDT

Yes the benign ruskies wouldn't hurt a fly would they? Especially with their new brand of humane treatment of dissidents...Does thallium ring a bell?

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GeorgeDavis | Jul 06, 2010, 07:24 PM EDT

More garbage from O'Dowd. There is no double standard. The Israelis used an Irish passport to MURDER a man, O'Dowd, are you such a sicko that you don't think that's wrong? In contrast, we have no idea what the Russians were doing in the current case, or in fact if it's all a big hoax, but there's no evidence that they killed a anyone. Remember your hero Thatcher, O'Dowd? Murder is Murder is Murder...

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Monsoonman | Jul 06, 2010, 10:30 AM EDT

But as many have said here, what's the harm done by the Russians? All they did was a little spy mischief. Nothing in the order of magnitude that the Israelis did when they executed a known serial killer with the aid of an Irish passport. Don't you think you're being a bit harsh on the Ruskies Niall?

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