Ireland on alertTaoiseach Bertie Ahern has said there are a number of al-Qaeda sympathisers in Ireland and that they are being monitored very closely by the Garda.
However, it is understood that intelligence officers briefed some Government members yesterday and indicated that there was no evidence to suggest there was any involvement by Irish-based activists in Thursday's bomb attacks in London.
Mr Ahern told reporters in Dublin yesterday that gardaí were working in co-operation with security services internationally and were "watching certain individuals very, very closely".
"There are certain individuals living in the Republic of Ireland that we do have to attach huge importance to and we do," he said.
Asked whether the people he referred to were al-Qaeda sympathisers, Mr Ahern replied "yes".
He said security forces here watch the airports and the movements of individuals as a matter of course.
"I have been talking to them [the security forces] overnight and there is no particular issue that they are any more concerned about than they would normally be. But obviously they heighten alert," he said.
Security sources have indicated that there are a "handful" of suspects under surveillance by Garda and Army intelligence officers, with numbers put at no more than 30 at any one time.
The individuals are suspected of providing financial and logistical support to al-Qaeda and Islamic terrorists abroad.
Minister for Defence Willie O'Dea has also said he is satisfied following recent intelligence briefings that there is no threat of an Islamic terrorist attack in Ireland.
Intelligence officers from both the Army and the Special Branch of the Garda have been monitoring suspected Islamic terrorist sympathisers since the late 1990s, when an Irish-based Islamic charity was linked to individuals suspected of organising the bombing of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998, which killed 253.
Surveillance of suspects increased dramatically in the wake of the September 11th attacks in 2001, and in the following months gardaí, including members of the Criminal Assets Bureau, mounted a major investigation into a group of suspected al-Qaeda activists, in which they raided a number of homes and made a series of arrests. No charges were brought.
Irish security forces, working with intelligence staff from Europe and the United States, mounted a series of surveillance and security operations during Ireland's presidency of the EU in the first six months of 2004 and in the run-up to the June 2004 visit to Ireland by US president George Bush.
Yesterday the Taoiseach also said he did not believe that the use of Shannon airport by US troops heightened the risk of a terrorist attack.
" American troops and troops of the alliance are going through a large number of airports every day all over Europe. I don't think that in any way puts it in danger," he said.
Mr Ahern said that the potential for a terrorist attack on some embassies in Dublin was always something that was considered. "That's an issue that we always take account of. They are always on high alert and never stand down."
The Taoiseach said the security threat nowadays was something everyone had to worry about. He said some people had been "a bit intolerant" of the heightened security measures at Dublin airport - which he said was one of the few where passengers were asked to remove their shoes and watches - but he maintained that these precautions were essential.
"In the world we live in we all have to worry and take care. Thankfully in this country, we are not part of military alliances. We are not part of groups that put forward a certain point of view. It doesn't mean we can relax."