Ireland to expel four senior Russian diplomats

• UTV reporter Marc Mallett provides an update to Paul Clark

Four senior officials have been asked to leave the Republic of Ireland.

Russian Ambassador Yury Filatov was summoned to Iveagh House in Dublin - the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs - on Tuesday afternoon.

Mr Filatov was advised that four of his officials had been asked to leave the state after their activities were found to have not been in accordance with international standards of diplomatic behaviour.

The action is being taken under Article 9 of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

Mr Filatov himself is not among those being expelled. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Department said the Irish Government "continues to believe that diplomatic channels between Ireland and the Russian Federation should remain open."

It continued: "This is in the interests of our citizens as well as to ensure that we can continue to have a diplomatic channel of communication between Ireland and the Russian Federation in the future.

"This channel of communication has been important in the context of conveying our strong views on the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine, which we regard as a serious breach of international law."

Speaking in the Dail, Taoiseach Michael Martin revealed that he and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney had received security advice on Monday.