The public apathy that greeted the disclosure by this paper last weekend that British intelligence has been tapping subsea cables between Ireland and Britain stands in marked contrast to the fuss over water charges.

The explanation is so obvious as to verge on the banal. Nobody is left out of pocket – directly at least – if their private communications are eavesdropped upon.

Today’s revelations that the Government – by coincidence no doubt – moved to cement the legal basis for allowing such intercepts within hours of their existence emerging in public is deeply worrying to anyone concerned about civil liberties and privacy.

However, it is equally unlikely to bring people on to the streets in their thousands. The reason being that most of us take the view that very little of what we say via the phone or internet is of interest to anyone.

Quite often this includes the person on the other end of the line, never mind British intelligence. The innocent person has nothing to fear, the argument goes.

This is certainly the case if – as we assume – GCHQ’s eavesdropping is being done purely in the interests of the UK’s national security.

The question that arises is why GCHQ is bugging Irish subsea cables at all?

The once very significant threat posed in this regard by the IRA is very greatly reduced.

The conspiracy theorists would suggest that it only makes sense if the definition of national security is being stretched to protecting Britain’s economic interests, potentially to disadvantage of Ireland.

It is difficult to dispute such arguments when the Government will not even admit that it is happening and has effectively gagged the companies involved.