Diary - Feb 1982: Why the Russian Diplomats were expelled

THE EXPULSION OF THREE SOVIET DIPLOMATS LAST September resulted from espionage activities involving NATO nuclear Submarines, according to a US State Department report. The Irish government has consistently refused to give the reasons for the expulsions and a government source was this week unable to say why the State Department should apparently have inside information on the incident.
The State Department reo port is quoted in a press handout from the US Interrnational Communication Agency, which is based at the US embassy and which reguularly keeps Irish journalists informed on US policy and government statements.

Magill asked the press office of the State Departtment in Washington DC how such information had been come by. They were unable to say and referred us to Irene Piechowitz of the Pubblic Affairs Office, European Section. Ms Piechowitz told us that three Soviet diploomats had been expelled from Ireland in September but didn't know any more than that. She referred us to a Mr Rohn at the State Departtment's Intelligence and Reesearch Division. Mr Rohn was on home leave. His deputy, Scott Thompson could not elaborate on the report. "No one in the Department of State had anything to do with that," he said.

Mr Thompson suggested we ring the CIA. We asked him for the number. He said, "We don't have very frequent dealings with them, sir, and nobody here knows their number. Anyway, all they're likely to say is no comment."

We rang Bryan Carlson, a State Department press offiicer, who had a copy of the report on Soviet expulsions. Mr Carlson's report seemed to have a lot more detail than the embassy handout. It said that in addition to the espionage involving the submarines the three Soviets had "contacted agents" and also "collected intelligence information for transmission to Moscow". Mr Carlson's copy of the report also claimed that the diplomats had "bugged other em basssies in Du blin ". It said that the Second Secretary, Mr Lipassov, was "the KGB resiident" in Dublin.

Mr Carlson didn't know very much about how the State Department obtained this information. He said he would try to get someone to ring us back, "but I don't hold out much hope that they'll want to go further than that." They didn't.

We rang the CIA. A spokesperson; Dale Peterson, said he would "have to refer you back to the State Departtment. We would 'send inforrmation to them, but they would have the ultimate ressponsibility for that." Asked if that meant that the CIA had provided the information for the report, Mr Peterson referred us back to the State Department.  

We rang the home number of Mr Rohn, the Intelligence and Research officer who was on home leave. A recorded '" announcement said that his line was being "checked for trouble ".

An Irish government spokesperson repeated the refusal to elaborate on why the Russians had been thrown out, other than to say that they had "transgressed" beeyond their diplomatic roles.

The position seems to be that the Russians know what they did, the Americans know what happened, our own government knows - but the information is being kept from the public. It is a rnys- . tery as to how the US State Department obtained inforrmation that the Russians were expelled for spying on N A TO nuclear su bmarine seccrets. Did our government tell them? Or did they tell our government? Was this before the expulsions, or afterwards?

There were, by State Deepartment count, 27 Russian diplomats expelled from various countries in 1981. In 1982 the figure was 49. Last year it rose to 135. Either Russian diplomats are swearring off vodka and suddenly going on an espionage rammpage or, as East-West relations deteriorated under Andropov/ Reagan, someone who has been watching the Russkies for a long time suddenly decided to spill the beans on them all over the place.

Gene Kerrigan