15:32 GMT
Matt Murphy
BBC Verify senior journalist
Ireland’s ex-defence chief has warned that “no state” can currently properly counter drone incursions, following reports that four UAVs (drones) were spotted loitering in Dublin’s airspace ahead of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s visit on Monday.
Domestic media has reported the drones were spotted by the crew of the Irish naval vessel, LÉ William Butler Yeats, near the expected flight path of the Ukrainian leader’s jet and where a no-fly zone was in effect.
The Journal, which broke the story, external, said the ship was not equipped to disable drones and commanders decided against shooting them down with conventional weapons.
While the drones did not appear on flight tracking, the Yeats was seen on ship-tracking site Marine Traffic in Dublin Bay on Monday. FlightRadar24 also showed Irish patrol aircraft in the area.
Vice-Admiral Mark Mellett, who led the Irish military between 2015 and 2021, said that “nobody and no state is adequately equipped” to tackle such incursions. A spate of similar incursions have been reported by EU states in recent months.
He said the decision not to shoot down the drones was “sensible” in a situation where they didn’t pose “a clear and present danger”.
“In such situations, proportionality and the avoidance of unintended escalation are as important as demonstrating that we are aware of, and actively monitoring, this kind of activity.”
While the origins of many of these drones are unknown, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has described them as “hybrid warfare” waged by Russia.
