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.


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