Authorities in Leinster House have moved to step up security in the Dáil, days after pro-hunt protesters stormed the House of Commons chamber in Westminster. Arthur Beesley, Political Reporter, reports.
In new measures announced in advance of the new Dáil session next week, journalists will be required to use a swipe card to enter the press gallery overlooking the chamber. While swipe cards have been in use in other parts of the complex for some time, the gallery is seen as a weak point within Leinster House.
There is direct and generally unsupervised access to the gallery from a corridor which links the offices used by some journalists. Unlike the public gallery, which has a glass security screen, there is no screen in front of the press gallery.
Swipe cards will be required to enter the corridor and to enter the press gallery. A spokesman for Houses of the Oireachtas declined to comment, although journalists were informed yesterday that the new system was being introduced "for security reasons". It will be reviewed after a number of months.
While the House authorities have conducted a number of meetings on security this week, the swipe card initiative is the only visible measure undertaken so far in the wake of the Westminster incident.
The press gallery was at the centre of a dramatic incident in the early 1980s when Workers Party TDs entered the Dáil via the balcony after the doors were locked for a crucial vote during the Haughey era. The TDs had arrived to the chamber to find doors were locked for the vote.
While the chamber doors were locked during votes, access to the press gallery was unrestricted.
The TDs went to the press gallery and climbed into the distinguished visitors gallery from which they entered the chamber itself. The door of the press gallery has been locked during votes since then to protect the integrity of the vote.
Also in the 1980s, a H-Block protester entered the Dáil chamber and was removed by officials.