Irina was a Terrellian pilot who was involved in the 2377 Antarian Trans-stellar Rally. She became friendly with Tom Paris and Harry Kim when the Delta Flyer rescued her ship after an impromptu drag race. During the race, her co-pilot Joxom was electrocuted, and Harry became her new co-pilot. The two then begin to develop a relationship.
Irina was actually an isolationist and a terrorist who planned on detonating a bomb at the end of the race. She hoped doing so would break the fragile peace and end the "intermingling" of the species. She gave the Delta Flyer a faulty fuel converter to this end, which was rigged to leak veridium isotopes near the warp core, leading to a breach. The bomb would have killed hundreds of spectators. Fortunately, Kim found out about the plot and warned Paris, who had time to eject the bomb into space. (VOY: "Drive")