Laws on espionage

An Cigire

Have tried to research this subject but I can't find any relevant laws/S.I's covering the topic.

I'm aware of the communications legislation thats allows the state access telecommunications/post etc.. but for example what piece of legislation outlaws foreign powers carrying out espionage here or is there any such laws in existence eh would allow for the arrest of such persons if they were discovered in Ireland?

Cheers

Victor

The Official Secrets Act and the various Offences Against the State Acts would be key.

However, much 'spying' is not espionage, but things like assassination, kidnapping, subversion, disinformation, misinformation, sabotage, theft or intellectual property crimes and the relevant statutes and/or common law would apply.

Peregrinus

And much "spying" is also not criminal at all, consisting of gathering and analysing publicly-available information, making contacts and establishing networks, seeking out like-minded and co-operative people, etc.

So, yeah, to know what the legal response to espionage would be, you have to be specific about exactly what espionage activities you're talking about.