Passengers travelling between Britain, Northern Ireland and the Republic on British airlines can in future assume armed undercover police will be on board.
This was confirmed last night following an announcement by the British Transport Secretary, Mr Alistair Darling, that specially trained air marshals would be deployed on unspecified domestic and international flights and routes to counter what the British government says is the growing threat of a major terrorist attack against the United Kingdom.
At the same time, senior Whitehall sources told The Irish Times they anticipated an eventual Europe-wide application of the initiative. It is understood British security chiefs are talking to their Irish and other European partners and that those discussions will be augmented at governmental or ministerial level if it proves necessary.
Despite the announcement, the Department of Transport said Britain would have to consult the Government before it could place armed officers on board aircraft entering Irish air space. Slightly surprised by the move, the Department said it had had no contact from the British Home Office on the matter.
The Department confirmed that the question of using armed guards on Irish airlines was being considered by the National Civil Aviation Security Committee.
Flights between Britain and Ireland have increased dramatically in recent years with the Dublin-London-Dublin route being the busiest in Europe.
Aer Lingus said the issue of marshals on Irish-registered aircraft was "a matter for the Irish Government, the Department of Transport and the National Civil Aviation Security Committee". Ryanair would not comment on how it may be affected by the step-up in British anti-terrorist security but confirmed it was "an Irish-registered airline".
Mr Darling's announcement came as the UN's chief weapons inspector, Mr Hans Blix, said in New York yesterday that Iraq's report on its weapons of mass destruction programmes contained nothing new but had some "significant omissions". At the same time the US ambassador to the UN, Mr John Negroponte, intensified speculation about the likelihood of war when he declared the Iraqi regime to be "in material breach" of the UN Security Council resolution.
With a Royal Navy flotilla set to sail for the Gulf, Mr Darling said his move to counter the threat of a domestic terrorist assault represented a sensible precaution. Despite the concerns of some airlines, Britain appears determined to implement radical changes to security arrangements in line with of other countries already comfortable with the presence of armed police aboard airlines.
British taxpayers will foot the bill, while ministers clearly look to European and other international carriers to make them more effective by following suit.
The British Airline Pilots' Association said the emphasis should be on preventing terrorists boarding aircraft in the first place.