# Irish intelligence services

> **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou.
>
> Cite as: "Irish intelligence services," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/irish-intelligence-services/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia.

*Ireland's intelligence and law-enforcement services, which John Kiriakou toured and met with during a speaking trip to Belfast, Cork, Dublin, and Waterford. Per Kiriakou, Irish intelligence and the Garda are especially strong at anti-money-laundering investigation and counterterrorism — the latter traced, he says, to the large number of Irish militants trained by Carlos the Jackal in Libya and Lebanon during the 1970s.*

- **Country:** Ireland
- **Kiriakou tie:** Speaking tour of Belfast, Cork, Dublin, and Waterford; met European intelligence and law-enforcement officials
- **Noted strength (per Kiriakou):** Anti-money-laundering investigation; counterterrorism
- **Origin of counterterrorism skill (per Kiriakou):** Irish militants trained by Carlos the Jackal in Libya and Lebanon in the 1970s

[John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) gave a series of speeches around Ireland — visiting Belfast, Cork, Dublin, and Waterford before continuing on to Scotland — during which he met with a number of European intelligence and law-enforcement officials.[1]

## Anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism strength

Kiriakou says Irish intelligence and the Garda are first-class specifically at anti-money-laundering investigations, and separately notes they are also strong at counterterrorism. He traces the counterterrorism skill to the 1970s, when large numbers of Irish militants — mostly linked to Northern Irish and international communist groups aligned with organizations such as the PFLP, DFLP, and the Abu Nidal Organization — traveled to Libya and Lebanon to be trained by [Carlos the Jackal](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/carlos-the-jackal). In Kiriakou's account, the Irish government's later skill at recruiting spies to penetrate those same groups grew directly out of that period, and the service has maintained that expertise since.[2]

## 'Look no further than the Irish government'

Asked in May 2026 by an eighteen-year-old in Ireland what intelligence opportunities exist for people from countries of no great international weight, Kiriakou's answer was unqualified: *"100% yes."*[3]

He restated the two specialisms in the same terms — *"if there's one thing that the Irish are especially good at, it's anti-money laundering investigations. The Irish intelligence service and the Irish Garda are first class when it comes to anti-money laundering"* — and again derived the counterterrorism strength from the traffic of the 1970s, when Irish militants went to Libya and Lebanon to be trained by [Carlos the Jackal](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/carlos-the-jackal), whom he glosses as *"the Osama bin Laden of the '70s and '80s."*[4][5]

The mechanism he names is penetration rather than analysis: the Irish government *"got really, really good at recruiting spies to penetrate these various groups"* — Irish and Northern Irish organisations, and international communist ones in league with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Abu Nidal Organisation, Carlos the Jackal and the Libyans — *"and they've maintained that expertise. So if you're interested in intelligence, look no further than the Irish government. They're really good."*[5][6]

## See also

- [Carlos the Jackal](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/carlos-the-jackal)
- [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou)

## Sources

1. Former Spy Reveals the Brutal Survival Rules Inside the (2026-05-20), at 11:03. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf8xsrnBBs0&t=663s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-20-covert-operations-insight/
2. Former Spy Reveals the Brutal Survival Rules Inside the (2026-05-20), at 11:35. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf8xsrnBBs0&t=695s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-20-covert-operations-insight/
3. John Kiriakou Podcast (2026-05-28), at 10:55. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzSIp9kONVA&t=655s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-28-john-kiriakou-podcast-john-kiriakou-podcast/
4. John Kiriakou Podcast (2026-05-28), at 11:26. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzSIp9kONVA&t=686s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-28-john-kiriakou-podcast-john-kiriakou-podcast/
5. John Kiriakou Podcast (2026-05-28), at 11:56. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzSIp9kONVA&t=716s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-28-john-kiriakou-podcast-john-kiriakou-podcast/
6. John Kiriakou Podcast (2026-05-28), at 12:26. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzSIp9kONVA&t=746s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2026-05-28-john-kiriakou-podcast-john-kiriakou-podcast/

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From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/irish-intelligence-services/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt