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.

This committee includes representatives from the garda, the Department of Justice, the Defence Forces, Aer Rianta and Irish airlines.

The spokesman said in most cases the armed marshals on British airlines would be on transatlantic routes. However, if a carrier serving a route between Ireland and Britain wanted to use air marshals, "it was understood that we (the Irish authorities) would be consulted".

A decision on any such request could only be taken by the Government, he added. A spokesman for Aer Lingus said the company was aware of the new measures but that at the moment it had not been asked to alter its operations.

The move comes as the US Government created emergency legislation to oblige foreign airlines to place armed marshals on selected flights to and from the US in a bid to boost security.

The Department of Homeland Security issued the aviation emergency orders to further boost security on passenger and cargo aircraft flying to, from and over the United States.

The new measures go into effect immediately. They give Homeland Security the authority to require armed security officers on international aircraft travelling in US airspace.

Armed air marshals disguised as passengers are already deployed on thousands of US airline flights each week in an effort to prevent another September 11, 2001.

Homeland Security spokesman Dennis Murphy said the demand for an on-board law officer would apply to specific flights "based on specific information" whenever it surfaces.

"We will then notify the carrier that, based on information we received, we require a law enforcement officer to be on the plane," Mr Murphy said.

The British Airline Pilots' Association (Balpa) is opposed to the move, saying that having weapons on an aircraft is dangerous.

A British Airways spokeswoman said: "We have always said we have concerns about having armed people on aircraft. We feel it is best to have strong security on the ground and that is where the focus of attention should be."

British Transport Secretary Alistair Darling, who first announced the sky marshal plan a year ago, said pilots would be informed if there was a sky marshal on their flight.

"The captain of the aircraft would know. For perfectly obvious reasons. He has got to fly the aircraft," he said.

Mr Darling said sky marshals would be the "last line of defence" and they were among a series of measures being put in place including improved screening of passengers and baggage to prevent hijackings.