The “significant role” of the Co Limerick Aughinish Alumina plant in civilian supply chains across the EU has to be taken into account when sanctions are considered against Russia, the Minister for Foreign Affairs has said. Successive Irish governments have successfully lobbied the EU and US to make Russian-owned Aughinish Alumina exempt from sanctions over the past 12 years. But he stressed Aughinish Alumina “is a very significant employer in the midwest and it supports hundreds of jobs directly and indirectly”. He said it was “remarkable” the agency had not been sanctioned after four years of war “given the centrality of atomic energy to the Russian economy and the Russian war effort”. The Minister told him Aughinish Alumina has a “significant role in supply chains across Europe”.

Source: The Irish Times March 27, 2026 01:03 UTC