Government 'seriously concerned' Russia will attack…

Government 'seriously concerned' Russia will attack underwater internet cables off Irish coast

The Irish Government is seriously concerned Russia will attack the underwater internet cables connecting Europe with the US off the Irish coast.

The warning was issued by Fianna Fail MEP Billy Kelleher after the mysterious explosion on the Nord Stream gas pipeline, which delivers Russian gas to Europe, in the Baltic Sea on Tuesday.

Three offshore lines of the pipeline suffered serious damage and senior EU officials blamed the Kremlin.

Mr Kelleher stated: "The Russian navy was carrying out manoeuvres off Ireland in January 2022. At the time many people said they were there mapping undersea communications between the EU and the USA.

"The attack on the gas pipeline in the Baltic Sea leads me to believe that Russia would sabotage these cables."

There are currently 16 cables running under the Atlantic connecting the USA with Ireland, the UK, and mainland Europe but specifically France, Germany and Holland.

Some of the cables come ashore off the west coast in the Mayo area and then go on to Dublin and Britain, while others divert to France about 150 miles off the Cork coastline.

A huge amount of the world's internet data is carried along the cables, which effectively connect the old western world with the new world.

The Irish Defence Forces don't have the military capability to protect the cables.

But both British, France and American naval forces have regularly been in the area all year trying to protect the undersea connections from possible Russia attacks.

Moscow would cause severe economic damage to the west and especially the financial markets if the cables were taken out of action.

The issue was raised publicly earlier this year by former Irish Army Ranger and Independent TD Cathal Berry who warned that Ireland was a sitting duck because of the cables coming ashore here and it would be the ultimate cyber attack, targeting hardware instead of software, and it would devastate the European economy and wider society.

He raised the alarm that the Irish Navy did not have the sonar equipment to detect submarines in our waters and to stop them interfering with the cables.

He warned the Dail this week: "We were defenceless yesterday and we still are defenceless today.

"We are playing Russian roulette with Irish sovereignty and our territorial integrity. We have absolutely no means of policing our airspace, and no means of properly patrolling our home waters and we are very, very vulnerable and very exposed from that point of view.

"We spend less than one third of what other EU countries spend on defence."

It is believed the Americans have been using satellites and extensive radar to track all Russian submarines and ships in the vicinity of the cables.

A Government source admitted they are seriously worried but they are dependent on America and Britain to protect the internet connections.

Every major tech company also has their European headquarters in Dublin and they are all briefed and alert to the rogue Russian threat.

The source added: "The Russians had no problem blowing up their own pipeline in an attempt to bring economic hardship to Europe with a gas shortage this winter and they wouldn't think twice of bringing the internet to its knees.