Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Simon Coveney has said he has "no hesitation" in supporting the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces after he met with the Russian ambassador. As reported in the Irish Examiner, at a Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting, Mr Coveney commented that he was “surprised, to put it mildly” at Lieutenant General Seán Clancy’s meeting with Russian ambassador Yury Filatov. It comes amid plans for Russian military exercises to be carried out off the coast of Ireland. The plans are being viewed as a show of force by Russia as tensions rise across Europe over a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. “I have absolutely no hesitation in expressing my full support and confidence in the Chief of Staff and in his judgment,” Mr Coveney told the Dáil. “The chief is holding a number of pro-forma meetings at the moment with members of diplomatic corps, as a new chief of staff would be expected to do and those meetings have been set up over many weeks.

On January 21 the Ambassador of #Russia to #Ireland Y.Filatov met with the Member of the Chief of Defence Staff of Ireland S.Clancy. Parties discussed the issues of ???? relations and international agenda, as well as prospects of contacts between armed forces of two countries. pic.twitter.com/lR9GuwBFjG

— Russia in Ireland (@Rus_Emb_Ireland) January 21, 2022

“What I commented on last night, related in response to a question related to the timing of the meeting with the Russian ambassador, and the subsequent tweet drawing attention to it.

“I have, as you would expect, been fully briefed by the chief of staff, I spoke to him again last night.

“I have absolutely no reservations or questions about his actions and I just want to put that on the record because I don’t think it’s welcome that the Chief of Staff has been brought into public commentary and political debate and I recognise that I’ve made a contribution to allowing that to happen, and I would certainly like to correct that this morning.”

Meanwhile, talks that took place today between representatives from the Irish Fishing Industry and the Russian Ambassador have been described as "extremely positive". The two sides met this morning so that fishermen could raise their concerns over the impact Russian Navy drills may have on their sector when they get underway next week. A "buffer zone" is being considered, so both trawlers and military boats can co-exist.