KEY LOCATIONS to be visited by Queen Elizabeth today are in effect under Garda and Defence Forces lockdown and the largest uniformed policing presence Dublin has seen is also in evidence.
A total of 10,000 gardaí and Defence Forces personnel are directly involved.
The Army has deployed armed troops to patrol Áras an Uachtaráin and Farmleigh, both in Dublin’s Phoenix Park, where the Queen will attend a function and stay overnight respectively.
Troops equipped with night vision surveillance equipment overnight maintained a heavy presence to ensure there were no breaches of security. British security agents are also involved in shoring up security at all of the sites to be visited by the Queen.
The main threat to security is from dissident republicans, who may be intent on exploding a bomb during the Queen’s visit or disrupting it with bomb scares.
PSNI officers are on high alert in the event dissidents may seek to murder a police officer while the Queen is in the Republic.
The most visible security presence is around the Garden of Remembrance on Parnell Square in Dublin’s north inner city where the Queen is due to lay a wreath this afternoon.
Garda sources said that because the site is the only outdoor location to be visited today, it is the most challenging to secure.
The north and east sides of the square were completely closed to traffic yesterday. Pedestrians were being quizzed by gardaí as to their movements and their bags and coats were being searched.
At the north end of Parnell Square, where the Garden of Remembrance is located, gardaí had installed mobile floodlights to make it easier to secure overnight.
Garda divers spent yesterday performing a last check on the sewerage system and tunnels.
Today’s visit begins when the Queen arrives at Casement Aerodrome, Baldonnel, Co Dublin, where a major security operation has been in place for weeks. Naval vessels are enforcing an exclusion zone under the royals’ flight path.
Her entourage will make its way to Áras an Uachtaráin, where the Queen will be welcomed by President Mary McAleese.
Security for the Queen’s entourage will be provided by her own armed protection team, which includes London’s Metropolitan Police. Armed detective gardaí will also be involved.
Garda outriders will escort the entourage, which will be travelling on closed roads, with the Garda helicopter above along with fixed wing surveillance aircraft and armed Air Corps helicopters. A no-fly zone will apply. Surface to air missiles will be at the ready.
The Queen’s convoy will be watched by armed detectives and uniformed gardaí, who have been posted on foot every few hundred yards along the route.
There will be a very significant presence of uniformed gardaí and undercover armed officers around O’Connell Street and Parnell Square. On side streets hundreds of gardaí in riot gear, along with the Garda Dog Unit, will be on standby in vehicles ready to be deployed should large numbers of protesters gather for the purposes of creating disorder and rioting.
The republican socialist group Éirígí plans to assemble on Moore Street at 1pm before marching as close to the Garden of Remembrance as gardaí will allow.
The Queen will later travel to Trinity College to see the Book of Kells and attend a reception in the Long Room. The college’s main entrance was closed yesterday. At other entrances security staff and gardaí were admitting only students with specific reasons for being on campus.
