The four Russian "diplomats" were anything but - this in the view of Irish authorities.
Ireland sent the Russians packing Tuesday for activities incompatible with their diplomatic status.
The four, according to an Irish Independent report, were suspected of being military spies involved in intelligence-gathering.
Gardaí believe the four diplomats were members of the GRU, Russian military intelligence.
The individuals who have been expelled have been on the Garda radar for some time and are well known to international security services, the Independent report stated.
Added the report: "The Government has long-standing concerns over the number of diplomats based in the Russian Embassy, which is one the largest operations the Kremlin has in another country.
"There have also been concerns over a planned expansion of the embassy and the previous government was forced to draft legislation to allow it intervene in the planning laws to stop the development."
The Russian Embassy in Dublin has responded to the expulsions stating that it “rejects such qualifications of the work of our diplomats."
It added in a statement: “This is (an) arbitrary, groundless decision which can only deteriorate further Russian-Irish relations, already damaged by Irish participation in illegitimate EU sanctions against Russia.
“The embassy proceeds from the assumption that such a step by the Irish side will not go unanswered."
Russian Ambassador to Ireland, Yury Filatov, was summoned to a meeting in the Department of Foreign Affairs Tuesday and informed of the expulsion orders. There have been calls for Filatov's expulsion but there is no sign at this stage of the an Irish government move in that direction.
In a statement ion the expulsions, the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs said: "This afternoon, the Department of Foreign Affairs summoned the Russian Ambassador to Iveagh House to advise him that four senior officials have been asked to leave the State.
"This is because their activities have not been in accordance with international standards of diplomatic behaviour. This action is being taken under Article 9 of the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
"The Government continues to believe that diplomatic channels between Ireland and the Russian Federation should remain open. 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."
Ireland's move came on the same days as Belgium announced the expulsion of 21 Russian diplomats on suspicion of espionage and the Netherlands announcing the expulsion of 17 Russian diplomats. The Czech Republic gave one Russian diplomat 72 hours to quit the country.
