Britain has refused to confirm or deny to the Irish Government allegations that it has intercepted communications to and from the Republic, including telephone calls, fax messages and emails.
The allegation was made in a recent Channel 4 report, which claimed that British intelligence monitored data communications throughout the 1990s via a tower on land owned by British Nuclear Fuels at Capenhurst, Cheshire, near the English-Welsh border.
Following the television documentary, the Government instructed the Irish Ambassador to Britain, Mr Ted Barrington, to investigate the matter. He met the Under-Secretary at the Foreign Office, Mr David Manning, in London on July 26th and submitted a two-page report to the Government late last week.
However, sources said last night that the report was inconclusive in that the Foreign Office did not say whether interception of communications had occurred.
Mr Barrington reported that, in the course of his discussions with Mr Manning, he was informed that interception of telecommunications was subject to the British Interception of Communications Act 1985. He was advised that this Act does not allow for blanket interception of communications, but provides for interception of communications only on the authorisation of the Home Secretary, the Foreign Secretary, the Northern Ireland Secretary of State or the Scottish Secretary of State, and only in specific circumstances relating to national security, serious crime or the safeguarding of the economic wellbeing of the United Kingdom.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign Office refused yesterday to confirm or deny that interception of communications had occurred.
A Department of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman said last night that the ambassador's report was still under review.