Reports Ireland being used as a hub by jihadis being ‘monitored carefully’

Taoiseach Enda Kenny said reports that Ireland was being used as a hub by jihadis were being monitored carefully.

Speaking at the Élysée Palace, where he joined French president François Hollande and other world leaders before taking part the national unity march, he said he had spoken to Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald about the matter.

“I spoke to the Minister for Justice yesterday and there was a meeting of the security committee. This matter is being monitored very carefully by the security authorities in Ireland,” he said.

‘Terror and cowardice’

Mr Kenny said he had come to Paris on behalf of the Irish people to stand in solidarity with Mr Hollande and the French people. "This is not about religion, this is about terror and about cowardice," he told reporters.

“This city here, which has seen oppression and revolution and terror old and new, is an example today. Leaders of the world, sometimes old enemies, marching in defence of fraternité, égalité and libérté. Nous sommes tous français aujourd’hui.”

Mr Kenny did not answer a question about whether the blasphemy laws in Ireland should be repealed. Instead, he said he had come to Paris with other leaders “as an act of defiance and in defence of the dignity and respect and integrity that people should have”.

‘Major test’

He went on: "This city produced Voltaire. He said one time, 'To hold a pen is to be at war.' We know that now in the newspapers around the world. This is an occasion really of a major test for the future. France is an enormously powerful country and an enormously important part of the European Union.

“Tolerance and dignity and respect and integrity are fundamental values. I’m happy to be here to stand for the Irish people in support of our French colleagues and the French people on this day of sadness and indeed of silence for them.”

At home, Ms Fitzgerald has said all necessary security measures will be taken to ensure “no stone is left unturned in terms of following up people who would seek to destroy democracy”.

She will brief Cabinet on Wednesday in relation to events in Paris and any possible implications for Ireland.

"We are working closely to work to ensure that the very best security operates and that there is a sharing of intelligence across Europe between our police forces with Europol and Interpol, " she said.

Ms Fitzgerald was speaking after the Charlie Hebdo remembrance ceremony organised by the NUJ in Dublin on Saturday.

Asked if specific measures were being taken here in response to what happened in Paris, Ms Fitzgerald said: “Clearly I’ve already put on the public record that there are a number of people who have gone from Ireland to become foreign fighters.

“And clearly our security forces and our police are actively engaged in terms of managing those issues and being very alert to them and working with security forces across Europe.”

Security measures

She said security forces in Ireland and elsewhere would “take all of the security measures that we need to take and to ensure that no stone is left unturned in terms of following up people who would seek to destroy democracy in this way”.