Government ‘will consider’ requests for armed guards on flights

THE Government will consider applications by airlines seeking to have armed undercover police on passenger flights using airports in the State, the Department of Transport said last night.

Responding to the announcement by the British Government that undercover air marshals will be deployed on board some flights from as early as this week, a spokesman for the Department of Transport said consultations between the British and Irish authorities had been ongoing about the issue for the last 12 months.

The option of using armed guards on Irish airlines "had been looked at once or twice" by the National Civil Aviation Security Committee, he said.