Terror response centre in Ireland ‘in months’
A security threat assessment centre led by military and police chiefs to prevent and respond to a terrorist attack in Ireland is to be set up this year.
The body will gather intelligence and report to government, ensuring there will be political and civilian roles feeding into State security for the first time.
In the wake of the New Zealand mosque attacks, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has confirmed the Strategic Threat Analysis Centre (Stac) is to be established within months. Speaking in Chicago during his visit to the US for St Patrick’s Day, he said Ireland was prepared for any possible attack.
“I think we are as prepared as any country can be,” he said. “We have seen horrendous terrorist attacks occur across the water in Britain, France, America, and now in New Zealand.
“You know, countries can only be so prepared for acts of appalling violence that are carried out by individuals or small groups.
“But among the things we are doing, for example, in light of the recommendations from the O’Toole Commission, is putting together a Strategic Threat Assessment Centre, essentially a co-ordinating body, which will be under the aegis of my department and that will co-ordinate the work of the gardaí intelligence, of defence intelligence, and also the cyber security unit; so doing a few things really to bring together and co-ordinate what we do already when it comes to intelligence and national security.”
The O’Toole Commission examined the future of policing in Ireland. It was headed by former Garda Inspectorate chief Kathleen O’Toole.
One of its 50 recommendations was a new approach to co-ordinating national security. This will be led by Stac and have a small permanent staff.
Separately, the commission proposed there should be an independent examiner of terrorist and serious crime legislation, who would oversee how security legislation is enacted.
Pressed by reporters about when Stac would be set up, Mr Varadkar indicated appointments would be made in the coming months.
“We should have the national security co-ordinator appointed and the office set up I say, certainly this year,” he said.
Australian Brenton Tarrant, 28, a suspected white supremacist, was charged with murder on Saturday as the death toll from the New Zealand attacks reached 50.
Tarrant was remanded without a plea and is due back in court on April 5, when police said he was likely to face more charges.
Friday’s attack in Christchurch, which New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern labelled terrorism, was the worst ever peacetime mass killing in the country.
Ms Ardern confirmed a “manifesto” was emailed to more than 30 recipients, including her office, nine minutes before the attack, but gave no location or specific details. She said her office sent it to parliamentary security two minutes later.
In the manifesto, which was also posted online, Tarrant described himself as “Just a ordinary White man, 28 years old” who used profits from cryptocurrency trading to finance travel in Europe.
Meanwhile, Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin said racism and religious intolerance or attempts to demonise the faith of another cannot be allowed to assume even a token tone of respectability.
He said it would be “incongruous” to hold the joyful celebration of the feast of St Patrick in St Mary’s Pro-Cathedral without first finding a moment to pause and reflect on those who died in Christchurch.
To attack innocent people of prayer in two mosques just because they were of a different faith was something that offended Christian culture,” said Dr Martin.
“It is something that offends our own Irish culture just as it offends the culture of New Zealand, a country known for its tolerance and welcome.”
