Irish passport bar to MI5
IRISH passport-holders will not qualify to apply for a job with MI5 in Northern Ireland.
Only British citizens – or those who hold dual British-Irish citizenship – can enter the application process for work with the security service.
As MI5 today steps out of the shadows to begin a recruitment drive it will be sticking to its employee policy, which is sure to anger republicans and nationalists already opposed to its role in the Province.
A Whitehall senior security official last night confirmed that only British nationals work for the intelligence agency.
An advertisement seeking applications from IT workers and language specialists appears in the News Letter today.
More jobs are expected to be publicised later in the year.
An “in-depth knowledge and understanding of a variety of communities, cultures and languages isn’t just an advantage, it can be absolutely critical,” the ad for foreign language transcribers notes.
Translators in all Arabic dialects, Sorani, Bengali, Urdu, Punjabi, Chinese, Somali, Pushto, Persian and Russian are among those most highly sought.
The existence of the MI5 office in Northern Ireland – and its preparations to take over national security responsibilities from the PSNI – has already proved controversial because nationalists and republicans remain deeply suspicious of covert intelligence operations, given the alleged illegal activities of some rogue Special Branch and Army operatives in the past.
But the DUP and Ulster Unionists argue that not only should the UK’s premier intelligence agency be here, but also that its expertise is essential in helping to protect Ulster from the international terror threat.
Sinn Fein and the SDLP claim MI5 will be unaccountable, as it will not be scrutinised by the Policing Board or the Police Ombudsman.
However, areas in which MI5 works closely with the PSNI – on intelligence gathering or search-and-arrest operations” – will be open to monitoring by these bodies.
The Whitehall official commented: “The relationship with the office of the Police Ombudsman is very good.
“The Ombudsman has oversight of police officers working with MI5 and that will not change. It is no different from other parts of the UK.”
He argued that MI5 is accountable.
The Regulation of Investigative Powers Act (2000), means that all warrants, bugging and other covert work must be sanctioned by commissioners and judges. Tribunals may be held to handle complaints or allegations of wrong-doing by MI5.
The House of Commons Intelligence Security Committee, chaired by former Ulster Secretary of State Paul Murphy, also produces an annual report on MI5
And there is ministerial oversight via the Home Office.
The official added: “The (MI5) office simply puts Northern Ireland on the same footing as England, Scotland and Wales.”
MI5 in Belfast does also intend to work closely with Garda intelligence in the Republic.
It is understood there is no final figure for the number of people who will work at the Palace Barracks office.
At the time of 9/11 there were 1,800 people working for the agency in the UK.
Now there are 3,200 people employed by MI5, with a target of 3,500 staff by 2008.
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Weather for Belfast
Monday 28 May 2012
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