Fifty-two Irish politicians have been banned from Russia in response to support on sanctions against the Kremlin.
The Russian foreign ministry says the Irish Government is acting under orders from Brussels in conducting anti-Russian propaganda.
The ban includes Taoiseach Micheal Martin, Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe and Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney.
In a statement translated from Russian, the Russian foreign ministry said:
"In response to the anti-Russian course of the Irish government, which unconditionally supports the unilateral restrictive measures introduced by the European Union against Russian citizens aimed at attempts to isolate our country internationally, a decision was made to include 52 key representatives of the leadership and politicians of Ireland in the Russian "stop list".
"The list of Irish citizens who are no longer allowed to enter the Russian Federation includes, in particular, Prime Minister M. Martin, his deputy L. Varadkar, Chairman of the Doyle (lower house of parliament) S. O'Foril, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defense S. Coveney, Minister of Justice H. McInty, Minister of Finance P. Donoghue, as well as a number of senators and deputies of the lower house of parliament.
"Acting under the dictation of Brussels, Ireland is conducting an aggressive anti-Russian propaganda campaign, a course has been taken to curtail bilateral cooperation to the detriment of its own interests. One of the consequences of fueling Russophobic hysteria in Irish society was the attack on the Russian Embassy in Dublin in March of this year.
"With regard to our other measures, we will be guided by the position of Dublin."
