Directorate of Military Intelligence (Ireland)

The Directorate of Military Intelligence Defence Intelligence (DI) Section is staffed by military commissioned and non-commissioned officers. It is tasked with providing intelligence support to the Defence Forces. Staff actively monitor relevant political, economic, social and military situations globally to produce intelligence reports and strategic studies to support operations. Personnel in this section can be found briefing all the way up to the Minister for Defence. The Directorate is responsible for conducting background checks of all Defence Forces personnel through close cooperation with the Garda National Vetting Bureau (GNVB).[15] The Defence Intelligence Section is tasked with keeping members of the Defence Forces safe, be it in Ireland or abroad during active military engagements. The Army Ranger Wing Intelligence Section deploys in foreign countries alongside Military Intelligence soldiers during Irish military deployments, which are generally peacekeeping missions on behalf of the United Nations, European Union and NATO (Partnership for Peace), due to Ireland's policy of military neutrality.[16]

The Directorate of Military Intelligence National Security Intelligence Section (NSIS) deals with threats to the state and the Defence Forces. This includes identifying, monitoring and assessing possible threats to the state and Irish national interests at home and abroad, be it by hostile intelligence services, terrorist groups and/or criminal organisations. Counter-intelligence forms a large part of the section's remit, in addition to fulfilling counter-terrorist, counter-subversion, counterinsurgency, counter-sabotage roles, and physical security of critical infrastructure. The National Security Intelligence Section works very closely with the Garda SDU and Garda National Surveillance Unit (NSU) to spy on potential terrorism threats, particularly from Islamic terrorists and dissident republicans.[17] Military Intelligence have a number of Arabic speakers in their ranks as a result of Defence Forces deployments overseas.[18]

Separately, outside of Defence Forces Headquarters, the Naval Service maintains a Naval Intelligence Cell within its Intelligence and Fishery Section at Naval Operations Command, Haulbowline Naval Base, Cork Harbour, which is responsible for the collection, collation and dissemination of Naval Intelligence.[19] The Air Corps maintains an Air Intelligence Section at its HQ at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, Dublin responsible for aviation intelligence.[20][21] Army Brigades maintain their own regional intelligence function – designation "G2" – reporting into J2.

G2 first came to public attention during World War II (1939-1945), known in Ireland as The Emergency. Although Ireland had a policy of military neutrality and was "non-belligerent" during WWII, G2 formed secret agreements with the United Kingdom's Military Intelligence Section 5 (MI5) and the United States' Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the predecessor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). During this period, G2 intercepted German naval and aerial communications through listening stations located across Ireland, sharing the information with Allied forces.[23] Under Colonel Daniel "Dan" Bryan, Director of Intelligence, G2 apprehended all thirteen Nazi spies sent to Ireland, notably Hermann Görtz, and broke German codes during the war, under the supervision of cryptologist Richard J. Hayes.

During this period, G2 also undertook intelligence operations in Europe, including a notable covert mission in April 1943 where G2 officers travelled to neutral Portugal by flying boat, using the cover of the Irish Red Cross delivering supplies to refugees in Spain, in order to gather information on the Irish minister (precursor to ambassador) in Madrid whom the Irish government had become increasingly suspicious about, due to his close links with Germany. Leopold H. Kerney had been visited by Edmund Veesenmayer, a senior Waffen-SS officer, who was one of the main Nazis involved in plotting secret Nazi operations in Ireland. G2 made contact with British spies in Lisbon and Madrid and concluded that Kerney was in fact neutral.[24]

G2 was involved throughout The Troubles (late 1960s to 1998), and Army officers were sent across the border into Northern Ireland on intelligence-gathering missions from 1969.[25]

In August 1969 Taoiseach Jack Lynch asked Irish Army Intelligence to draft proposals for a military intervention and guerilla operations in Northern Ireland in order to protect Irish nationalists there from sectarian attack from Ulster loyalist mobs, under a plan known as Exercise Armageddon. However it was deemed unworkable and was not adopted by the cabinet. Nationalist areas were later given a form of protection by British forces under Operation Banner.[26][27]

In 1970, the Arms Crisis and subsequent trial engulfed the state in a political scandal in which Irish Army intelligence officer Captain James Kelly was implicated in an unauthorised covert operation with the knowledge of Minister for Finance Charles Haughey and Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Neil Blaney whereby £50,000 of a secret Irish government humanitarian fund of £100,000 (which had been set-up to help refugees fleeing Northern Ireland) was diverted and used to illegally import and smuggle arms and ammunition for the Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA). The Garda Special Branch became aware of the unsanctioned operation and informed Minister for Justice Mícheál Ó Móráin and Taoiseach Lynch, who were slow to take action. Sensing this inaction, the Special Branch leaked the information to the press and the leader of the opposition Fine Gael leader Liam Cosgrave, who put pressure on Lynch to act. This resulted in Ministers Haughey (who later became Taoiseach) and Blaney being sacked from their posts, Captain Kelly was forced to resign, and the subsequent trial of all three in which the case collapsed and they were cleared of charges.[28][29]

During the Cold War, G2 monitored communists and agents of communist governments operating in Ireland, primarily through embassies in Dublin, sharing information with western allies.

Declassified intelligence files marked "Confidential" released at the end of 2019, after 30 years, show Irish government concerns over the possibility of British nuclear weapons in Northern Ireland. Colonel L Buckley, then Director of Intelligence briefed Peter Barry, then foreign minister, in November 1983 on the possibility of British/NATO nuclear missiles on the island of Ireland. Col Buckley believed nuclear weapons could be situated at underground facilities inside Benbradagh mountain in Derry, which US forces used as a communications hub in order to communicate with its North Atlantic fleet, but which were also designed for the storage of conventional high explosives. Col Buckley complained that he did not have "the monitoring or surveillance systems" to confirm the presence of nuclear weapons in Northern Ireland, but that the British strongly denied land-based systems in the territory and refused to confirm the movements of air and sea-based nuclear weapons.[30]

A separate file marked "Secret" from June 1985 shows that Irish military intelligence carried out reconnaissance on a British Army installation at Forkhill, Armagh (Northern Ireland) after it received information of "strong rumors" from locals that it was being converted into a nuclear facility. Their findings "strongly discounted the possibility". Materials had been brought into the base in night convoys but this was done for security reasons and it noted that there were underground facilities at Forkhill but that these were for accommodation and protection in the event of a mortar attack. Military intelligence did, however, have a reservation that Forkhill was "now on a microwave communications network which would have a Nato function in relation to possible nuclear attack".[31]

J2 has been deployed numerous times alongside Irish forces on peacekeeping duties globally, mainly to ensure the safety and security of Irish troops, but also to provide intelligence on hostile forces. It is considered one of the most secretive intelligence agencies in Europe, and the Irish government and Defence Forces rarely allude to its very existence.[32]

Following the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, the Directorate of Military Intelligence significantly expanded their operations both internally and externally to provide the Irish government with a better intelligence picture in relation to terror threats emanating from al-Qaeda and affiliated groups, working with western partners. The 2004 Madrid train bombings (11-M) in Spain and 7 July 2005 London bombings in the United Kingdom also saw an increase in the budget and deployments of Irish intelligence officers.

The service came to national and international attention in late 2005, when Arabic-speaking intelligence officers from the Directorate of Military Intelligence were deployed in Iraq, alongside heavily armed Irish Army Rangers, following the kidnapping of Irish journalist Rory Carroll in Baghdad by militants. Following the intervention of Irish, British and American governments, Rory Carroll was released unharmed days later and returned safely to Dublin.[33]

From 2006 to 2014, it has been reported that Military Intelligence and ARW Intelligence Section operatives were on the ground in; Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Sudan, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of various international missions.[34] The Directorate receives intelligence reports from civil servants posted at Irish diplomatic missions overseas, via the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA). Irish Military Intelligence works closely with the British Security Service (MI5) and Secret Intelligence Service (SIS/MI6), American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and National Security Agency (NSA), and is understood to have a relationship with Israeli Mossad.[35][36]

The Defence Forces and Garda Síochána provide security briefings to Department of Foreign Affairs employees and their families regarding potential terrorist attacks in host countries they are posted to.[37]

In May 2019, J2 was reported to have drawn up a plan to extract Lisa Smith – a former Irish Army soldier who converted to Islam before fleeing Ireland to join ISIS – and her two-year-old child from Syria by working with US military intelligence, who agreed to the plan. She would have been brought by Kurdish forces who had arrested her south to the Jordanian border by US military intelligence where Irish military intelligence would have escorted her back to Ireland. The plan was presented to the government by Minister Kehoe but was rejected by the government.[38] There was reported to be significant dissatisfaction within J2 and the higher levels of the Defence Forces with the government's decision, as intelligence officers believed their experience put them in the best position to extract Smith and her child safely and quietly, rather than the DFA or Gardaí.[39] Later, in October 2019 it was reported the Army Ranger Wing had been deployed to the Syrian border in order to try and extract Smith and her child in a Non-Combatant Evacuation Operation after the 2019 Turkish offensive into north-eastern Syria resulted in Kurdish-held ISIS prisoners escaping, including Smith, although the Defence Forces did not confirm this.[40]

It has been alleged that Ireland facilitated the CIA's extraordinary rendition program of terrorism suspects in the aftermath of 9/11, including the secret detention and interrogation of suspects. It is claimed that Irish airports Casement Aerodrome (military) and Shannon International Airport (civilian) – used by the US military as stopover hubs – have been used by the CIA for rendition operations, with support from the Irish government.[41]

Military Intelligence and the Garda Special Detective Unit's Middle Eastern Desk are tasked with monitoring potential jihadists in Ireland and Irish citizens who fight abroad in warzones – specifically Syria and Iraq – for Muslim extremist organisations such as the self-proclaimed "Islamic State".[42][43][44]

The Defence Forces CIS Corps have a signals intelligence role

Ireland is reported to be a member of the ECHELON SIGINT (signals intelligence) network, sharing and receiving information with its members (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom and United States). The Defence Forces CIS Corps is jointly responsible with the Military Intelligence Directorate for SIGINT and cyber operations within the Defence Forces.

According to the Department of Defence: "The Defence Forces adheres to the provisions of all legislation regulating the conduct of intelligence gathering. The Interception of Postal Packets and Telecommunications Messages (Regulation) Act 1993 does provide the Defence Forces with the authority to conduct intelligence-led operations involving surveillance, electronic communications and stored electronic information in order to safeguard and maintain the security of the State. The Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Act 2009 also provides for surveillance to be conducted by the Defence Forces in order to safeguard the security of the State."[45]

The Directorate of Military Intelligence ceased the practice of providing transcripts of intercepts on mobile phone calls, landlines, texts and emails and other raw intelligence to the CIA in 2011/2012. It now provides information on Irish residents to foreign intelligence services through a mutual assistance programme instead.[46][47] A warrant signed by the Minister for Defence or Minister for Justice is required to intercept a telephone call or email of an Irish citizen.[1]

J2 maintains a secured information technology network and a registry of classified documentation. All intelligence electronically transmitted to J2 from abroad comes via secured data links to the Army's Intelligence Comcen (Communications Centre), where messages are encrypted and electronically logged before being passed on for analysis. J2's computer systems are linked with the Garda CSB for the purpose of information share and cross-analysis.[25]

A report in late 2018 found that the Defence Forces had received 1,380 disclosures of communication data (mobile, landline and internet) based on requests to phone and internet firms over the five years 2013 to 2017 under the powers of the Communications (Retention of Data) Act 2011. The Defence Forces can only seek data for state security – and averaging more than 5 requests per week – they were the next biggest user of such data after the Garda Síochána, ahead of the Revenue Commissioners and Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission.[48]