MISSILES TO DEPLOY AT DUBLIN AIRPORT
8,000 gardaí, 2,000 soldiers, 500 Secret Service agents and the Navy all on duty for Trump’s visit to Ireland
A MASSIVE security operation is in full swing ahead of Donald Trump’s visit – with anti-aircraft missiles set to be deployed at Dublin Airport.
Upwards of 8,000 gardaí and at least 2,000 Army personnel will be drafted in to keep the divisive US president safe during his brief time here in November.
The cost of the major operation, like the one rolled out during the Pope’s visit, is to put another significant dent in our coffers.
US Secret Service agents have been directed to comb the areas Mr Trump will visit while in Ireland, and will be on hand to help
safeguard the US president while he is here. Some 500 agents will be needed for the trip in total.
An advance party of US Secret Service agents has already arrived in Ireland to prepare for the arrival of the controversial leader.
The Irish Daily Mail can reveal that the Army will position antiaircraft missiles within the perimeter of Dublin Airport to counter any potential attacks launched against Air Force One when the presidential plane brings Mr Trump to Ireland.
An Garda Síochána is already liaising with police forces across Europe to establish if ‘anarchists and criminals with a potential to try to attack the contentious US president’ will travel here to protest. A group of Al Qaeda sympathisers in Ireland, numbering fewer than a dozen, are now under surveillance by specialist gardaí.
The perimeter of Dublin Airport measures 9km and the roads surrounding it will be on ‘total lockdown’ ahead of his arrival, according to sources. This could spark travel chaos for air passengers trying to get to and from the airport on the day in question.
No other aircraft will be permitted within Dublin airspace when Air Force One is scheduled to land. The Navy will be called on to patrol Dublin Bay, and electronic sweeps will be carried out to check for explosives in and around the airport.
It is not yet known the exact dates of Mr Trump’s two-day visit, but it is expected that he will touch down here after attending the 100th anniversary of the World War I Armistice in Paris on November 11, with a visit to his Doonbeg golf resort in Clare on the cards.
A source said Secret Service agents had already travelled to the Trump resort in Doonbeg to check for potential security risks.
A senior source said: ‘There are several risk factors. There is always a concern about extremist Muslims with every US president. But with Trump, probably the most divisive American president in history, there are extremist leftwing groups and violent anarchists whose opposition to him runs deep and there are security concerns there. And then there is a major non-criminal element – normal law-abiding citizens – who oppose him and will come out and protest. It will be a public order nightmare for gardaí.’
While his itinerary is still being drawn up, it is not expected that Mr Trump will give a major public address during his visit, as his predecessor Barack Obama did in 2011 in Dublin’s College Green.
‘That won’t happen,’ a source explained. ‘He does not enjoy the widespread popularity of Obama. If he attempted a major address, it would be mobbed by protesters. But the reality is, there will be major protests anyway, particularly in the capital during his visit, which will of course need to be heavily policed. He will be met by the Taoiseach and the President, which would be protocol.’
Hundreds of officers from the Garda Special Tactics and Operational Command, based at Harcourt Square, will be assigned specifically to protect Mr Trump. The command took over from the elite Emergency Response Unit in 2017 and liaises with the Armed Support Units.
Mr Trump’s extensive team of special agents provide the world’s most technologically advanced protection. His security personnel includes the CIA, FBI and Secret Service officers as well as political and media advisers.
He will travel into and around Ireland in his own hi-tech fleet of transport vehicles, including Air Force One and presidential state car Cadillac One, nicknamed The Beast. The Marine One helicopter will also be brought here, but it has not yet been decided if that will be the method of travel for the US president while in Ireland.
Should the weather prevent Mr Trump travelling by helicopter to Doonbeg, it is understood he will travel in the presidential limo surrounded by a motorcade consisting of about 45 vehicles.
‘It will be a public order nightmare’
THE figures for security personnel in today’s paper bear out the astonishing scale of the operation to protect Donald Trump during his short visit to the country. President Trump will be accompanied by 500 secret service agents at all times, while a 10,000-strong Army and Garda operation is also to be deployed.
Anti-aircraft missiles will dot the perimeter of Dublin Airport and the greater part of north Dublin will be on lockdown for his arrival on Air Force One. The Navy will patrol Dublin Bay for subversives or any sign of terrorist activities.
Given that the US president will not be following in the footsteps of his predecessor Barack Obama by addressing the public in College Green, it appears that this massive deployment of resources is largely to allow him play a round of golf in Doonbeg. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has admitted that the security bill will run into millions.
Even so, we cannot turn a blind eye to the enormous threat faced by all American presidents, and in particular this hugely divisive figure.
We must therefore act accordingly and do our utmost to ensure that President Trump is safe and sound for as long as he is on Irish soil.