IRELAND: Serious differences of opinion have emerged between representatives of the Islamic faith here about the threat of extremism among young Irish Muslims.
According to Sheikh Dr Shaheed Satardien, a leading member of the Supreme Muslim Council of Ireland, other Irish Islamic leaders are "in denial" about the fact that Irish Muslims aged 14 years upwards are becoming radicalised, often when they travel to and from their parents' country of origin.
When there, he said, they are subjected to "anti-western" and radical viewpoints which, when they return here, contribute to a sense of being "caught between two cultures" with a "split personality".
"Plotting and planning might be happening here in Ireland. We can't say, we don't know what is going on in the minds and hearts of young Muslims here," he told The Irish Times yesterday.
"These are the easiest to be pulled into extremist beliefs. I am very, very concerned . . . these young people are growing up and becoming men."
Dr Satardien also warned that, like Britain, Ireland could become a target for terrorist attacks by young Irish-based Muslims who are increasingly angry about the ongoing situation in the Middle East.
"The situation in Britain is because we failed the youth," he said. "The Muslim community in Ireland has not taken control of what is going on . . . The leaders are in denial."
Any clampdown on the Islamic community by the British authorities could also lead individuals with extremist views to simply move to Ireland, he said.
The problem might be addressed through a restructuring of the education system, increased monitoring of mosques to "see what radicalisation is taking place" and the formation of an umbrella body to represent the Islamic community, he added.
However, the director of the Islamic Cultural Centre in Clonskeagh, Dublin, Dr Nooh al-Kaddo, said he did not agree at all with Dr Satardien's viewpoint.
The cultural centre runs a section specifically for young people aged 10 and upwards.
"Of course, the current situation [ in Lebanon] is increasing the level of feeling . . . of course there are feelings of frustration among the young, but definitely not to the extent which Dr Satardien has claimed," he said.
"I don't know where he got this information from."
Nonetheless, Dr al-Kaddo, who lived in Britain for 17 years before moving to Ireland, did acknowledge that the danger of religious fanaticism exists in Ireland, as elsewhere in the world.
"I can say we can easily handle this situation but, at the same time, we cannot stop fundamentalism. From what I see on the ground level, things are very different to the UK," he said.
"I am dealing with the grassroots directly. We try our best to help with the integration process, to ensure that they are understanding how to be a Muslim and at the same time to be a good citizen."
Dr Satardien also criticised the Government for showing "no interest" in this issue since a meeting with the Supreme Muslim Council of Ireland last September to outline its concerns.
A Government spokesman yesterday rejected this claim.
"There is an ongoing and constructive dialogue with the faith centres," he said.
"If Dr Satardien has anything further to convey to the Department of the Taoiseach, he can do so through the usual channels," he added.