IRISH HESITANT BUT OPEN TO TERRORIST SCREENING

C O N F I D E N T I A L DUBLIN 000529 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/12/2016 TAGS: CVIS PTER PINR PGOV PREL EUN EI SUBJECT: IRISH HESITANT BUT OPEN TO TERRORIST SCREENING INFORMATION SHARING INITIATIVE REF: SECSTATE 54855 Classified By: CON Chief Raymond D. Toma, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) On May 11, emboff met to discuss reftel matters with Irish Department of Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Consular Affairs Ray Bassett and Department of Justice Head of Division Michael Walsh. Bassett and Walsh initially met with hesitation emboff's proposal to establish a Framework of Terrorist Information Sharing Agreement with Ireland. Walsh said that he was concerned that formalizing the bilateral relationship between the GOI and USG in terms of sharing security information might jeopardize the effectiveness of the current, ad hoc communication flow between police security officials and the embassy. ¶2. (C) Walsh conceded that formalized information sharing might be useful to establish a flagging system to help the Irish track passport holders of concern, but he remained unsure of how to proceed. He and Bassett demonstrated a willingness to improve intelligence sharing, but mentioned the obstacles of privacy issues, data protection, and proper care of sensitive material as obstacles. They also mentioned the failing example of the EU's efforts to implement Member States' police to police information sharing as an indicator of the difficulties inherent in forming a bilateral framework with the USG. As a next step, Walsh recommended that the embassy draft a Third Party Note to propose the Framework through official channels. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Visit Dublin's Classified Website: http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/dublin/index. cfm Kenny