Taoiseach promises stringent vetting process for refugees after ‘appalling’ attacks on French capital

The Taoiseach has promised the vetting process for refugees coming to Ireland will be “very thorough and very comprehensive” after fake Syrian passports were found close to the bodies of suspected Paris attackers.

Moving to reassure the public, Enda Kenny said the National Security Committee had met to share information from gardaí, the defence forces and the departments of justice and foreign affairs in the wake of Friday’s Islamic State (IS) attack which killed at least 132 people.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald yesterday confirmed that there is a “comprehensive review under way” looking at whether gardaí and the defence forces are adequately resourced to deal with potential terrorist attacks.

Thousands took part in vigils in Dublin, Cork, and Galway over the weekend, while the national flag was at half-mast yesterday and many books of condolence, including one at Dublin’s Pro-Cathedral, have been opened.

Mr Kenny said the atrocity would also be appropriately marked when the Dáil resumes tomorrow.

An Irishman who was shot in the Bataclan theatre, site of a bloody hostage-taking, is said to be in a stable condition after surgery.

French police confirmed that Syrian passports found close to the bodies of two of the suspected Paris attackers were forgeries that were most likely produced in Turkey. One of the passports had been used by a person who registered as a refugee on the Greek island of Leros on October 3.

In condemning the “appalling” attacks, Mr Kenny said: “The very people who the humanitarian response is there to deal with are now being branded as being all terrorists.

“What you do need now is a very comprehensive, thorough analysis in terms of security and who the refugees and asylum seekers are.

“It’s also open to any country to refuse to take an individual if, on the basis of security information, there would be suspicion or a consideration to be taken into account from that point of view.”

He admitted that, with about 7,000 asylum seekers coming through Greece each day “Europe has not been as efficient or as competent as it should have been in attempting to deal with the scale of numbers”.

Describing the atrocity as “unprecedented”, Ms Fitzgerald told RTÉ’s This Week that security forces and intelligence agencies must share as much information as possible to prevent future terrorist attacks.

“The key to preventing these attacks is clearly as much intelligence as can be gathered and shared; we are part of that in Ireland,” she said. However, she added that “more resources would be needed in this area so that all countries can work more effectively together”.

Tánaiste Joan Burton said the vast majority of refugees are fleeing for their own safety but “there are people who have evil intent” and there would be a “very detailed and careful process” when accepting asylum seekers.

12 inspiring images of peace from the aftermath of the Paris attacks https://t.co/mVVFdtz4QF pic.twitter.com/r8FgntcrxL

— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) November 15, 2015

She said: “When people come into Ireland under the proposed arrangements they will of course be met by reception services and those reception services will include not just identifying and being satisfied in relation to identities but also then helping people to build a new life in Ireland.”