As London braces itself for a terrorist attack, Conor Lally finds out what measures are being taken to protect people here.
In the wake of the Madrid bombings the message from the authorities in Britain this week was as blunt as it was striking. A terrorist atrocity in London is inevitable, said the Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir John Stevens. Both he and the city's mayor, Ken Livingstone, told a press conference that while everything would be done to prevent a major strike in the English capital, it would be "miraculous" if terrorists, who "celebrate death", did not overcome security measures and unleash their terror.
The warning brought into focus the Republic's preparedness in the event of an international terrorist attack. The State has adopted a more low-key approach than the British to the possibility of a terrorist strike, or a "spectacular" as the Americans call it, on Irish soil. The approach seems to be one based on the assessment that the Republic is not a target for al-Qaeda. This is despite Shannon Airport being made available for Gulf-bound troops.
The possibility of a terrorist strike across the Irish Sea on the Sellafield nuclear facility in Cumbria has been given top priority in the Republic's emergency planning programme since September 11th, 2001. Some 12.6 million iodine tablets have been distributed to homes. The decision to distribute the tablets was taken after the Government Task Force on Emergency Planning, established after September 11th, sought details of how other European countries would react in the event of nuclear fall-out in a neighbouring country. The Minister for Defence, Michael Smith, chairs the task force.
While the Garda Siochána and the defence forces monitor potential threats to the State's security, the task force has responsibility for preparing and co-ordinating the response to a terrorist strike.
The task force submits a confidential annual report to the Government. The report is secret because it is understood to contain details of how strategic facilities would be secured if the sites were threatened. No details of the plan have been published or leaked in the two and a half years since the task force was established. It last reported in November, when it concluded: "the threat to Ireland continues to be low", according to a press release at the time.
Immediately after the task force began work, Smith stressed the need for a mechanism by which a major emergency would be identified and declared. It has since examined the most efficient method by which such emergencies would be announced to the public. It has considered the best use of existing legislation to maintain public order.
The Interdepartmental Working Group on Emergency Planning works under the guidance of the task force. It encompasses all Government departments with roles in emergency planning and key public authorities that support the activities of those departments. It acts as a forum for discussion and provides strategic guidance to all involved in emergency planning. It met eight times last year.
Separately, the Office of Emergency Planning, within the Department of Defence, works with Government departments and other authorities to ensure the best use and co-ordination of resources across the State agencies involved in emergency planning. In its last report to Government, the Task Force on Emergency Planning noted that the EU has continued to work to improve co-operation between member states, particularly in terms of limiting the consequences of a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incident.
For now, the only perceived major threat at official level seems to be nuclear fall-out from an attack on Sellafield. While iodine tablets have been distributed, the State is effectively at the mercy of British security preventing such an attack. While it has never been stated publicly, it is likely that Britain would also come to our aid if a rapid military deployment were needed. The RAF regularly undertakes exercises in the Republic. These are primarily for the purposes of familiarising RAF pilots with Irish airspace and airports in the event that they are needed for search and rescue missions. However, that experience would undoubtedly be called on if a situation arose which was beyond Irish military capability or which required armed forces reacting more quickly than we might be able to. The most obvious example of this would be scrambling fighter jets to shoot down a hijacked plane.