Senior gardaí have questioned the Defence Forces’ handling of the security incident in the skies off Dublin on Monday night around the time the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s aircraft arrived for a State visit to Ireland. Senior gardaí are annoyed at what one source termed the “weak” response from the Defence Forces, which had the LÉ William Butler Yeats in the area at the time as part of the State security operation for Mr Zelenskiy’s visit. Garda Headquarters said its special detective unit (SDU) was leading the investigation into the events of Monday night, aided by the Defence Forces and international partners. It made no reference to how the Defence Forces had handled the incident. One source believed Mr Zelenskiy’s aircraft had landed in Dublin before the incident in the skies out to sea began to unfold.

Source: The Irish Times December 06, 2025 12:01 UTC