RUSSIA HAS banned Taoiseach Micheál Martin as well as several other Irish officials from entering the country.
Among those who are on Russia's 'stop list' include Tánaiste Leo Varadkar, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Defence Simon Coveney, Minister for Justice Helen McEntee and Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe.
The full list names 52 representatives in total, including a number of senators and deputies.
Russian Foreign Ministry states that the creation of the list was in response to "the anti-Russian course of the Irish government, which unconditionally supports the unilateral restrictive measures imposed by the European Union against Russian citizens aimed at attempt to isolate our country internationally".
"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."
The attack on the embassy referred to a man reversing a van through the gates of the embassy in Dublin.
The driver described himself as a "working man" from Co Leitrim. Once he crashed through the gates, he exited the vehicle and handed out photos of what he called "Russian atrocities" in Ukraine.
