A matter of national insecurity

Political Correspondent Fionnán Sheahan assesses Government preparations for a Madrid-style attack in Ireland and finds the public are right to be worried.

NATIONAL insecurity is arguably an appropriate phrase to sum up the public's confidence in Government efforts to defend the nation from the threat of international terrorism.

Despite 30 years of experience in dealing, often effectively, with paramilitaries from both sides north of the border, the Government reassurances that there is no cause for concern about Ireland being a target for terrorists have been less than credible.

While Joe Jacob quietly continues his work as a Fianna Fáil TD, the ghost of the former junior minister's infamous radio interview in the wake of September 11 still lingers.

Evidence that the Government learned the lessons of that farcical episode is thin on the ground.

Just 36 hours before the massacre in Madrid placed international terrorism on top of the political agenda and fixed it into the public mindset, Dáil Éireann witnessed a debate among the leaders of the country on the issue of "National Security".

Responding to questions about the activities of the National Security Committee, Mr Ahern said this high level group deals with issues relating to September 11 and international terrorism and meets more or less monthly, though when necessary it met on a weekly basis.

While Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny and party colleagues may have exchanged jibes with Minister for Defence Michael Smith about iodine tablets, events in Spain two days later show the seriousness of the situation.

But Labour Party leader Pat Rabbitte picked up on a previous commitment by Mr Smith to set up a new secret intelligence body to deal with terrorists as a priority in preparation for the EU presidency.

Similar to a number of mooted Government policies, the idea was pitched during Christmas week in 2002 and never heard of again.

"Is it considered necessary to establish a new intelligence body to deal with terrorists or what is the status of that proposal?" Mr Rabbitte asked.

Sheepishly, the Taoiseach unsurprisingly admitted the plan never got off the ground.

"There is far better co-operation now between the international bodies and agencies. The supply and flow of information on organisations, individuals and movements is now totally different from that before September 11, 2001. From time to time, that puts pressure on the resources of the agencies but one does not need a new agency to do that," Mr Ahern said.

Aside from the National Security Committee, in the wake of September 11 the Government set up a task force on emergency planning, a new Office of Emergency Planning was established in the Department of Defence and an interdepartmental working group on emergency planning was also created.

Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act show these committees are meeting and do have administrative staff but their exact activities remain a mystery. The documents obtained by the Irish Examiner last year contain reams of pages with thick black marker crossing out most of the information showing the committee's exact membership and its decisions and initiatives are closed to public scrutiny.

Mr Smith has submitted annual reports on emergency planning to the Government the last one in October 2003.

WHEN dealing with national security, there obviously needs to be an extensive degree of secrecy and confidentiality involved, but in the absence of openness, measures aimed at confidence-building don't exactly spring to mind.

Following the Madrid bombings, Britain announced a review of its security measures and yesterday extra police officers, many plain-clothes, were deployed to patrol London, with special emphasis on public transport, particularly the underground.

That is a tangible response to a tangible threat.

At the Fianna Fáil Ard Fheis recently, the Government congratulated itself again on its handling of the Foot and Mouth crisis, which occurred before September 11.

But the less than adequate response to SARS, when a suspected case was released back into the public before being cleared, and the recent alleged invoking of the emergency plan by St James's Hospital, Dublin when the A&E department became suddenly overcrowded, hardly engenders a spirit of confidence in the ability to deal with crisis situations.

Hyped post-September 11 fears about jumbo jets being hijacked and crashed into nuclear power plants were dealt a reality check by the Madrid bombs. Meticulously planned and timed, the bombings carried out using packages of explosives detonated by mobile phones were a more conventional form of devastation wrought by willing and able terrorists.

Whether or not this country would be able to prevent a similar attack is a matter of National Security.

The use of Shannon airport by the US military, Ireland's high-profile EU presidency and US President George W Bush's visit to this country in June arguably make this country a target.

Rational people would acknowledge that Ireland played a marginal role in the Iraq war and officially opposed the unilateral action at the UN. Ireland remains a neutral State and has a track record of promoting peaceful means to resolve conflicts, as evidenced by the Northern Ireland peace process.

Rational people, however, do not murder 200 innocent people and wound 1,600 others.