Envoys may not cope with two crises abroad

The country’s diplomatic and consular services would struggle to cope if Irish citizens were caught up in two or more terrorist attacks abroad at the same time.

Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney has been warned that the department’s resources would be seriously strained to provide adequate consular assistance to Irish people travelling abroad, if two overseas incidents happened simultaneously.

In briefing documents prepared for Mr Coveney, officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs also said to expect that more Irish people would be caught up in terrorist attacks, while abroad, in future.