Speaking to Sky News, a senior Islamic cleric admitted that it is possible for the London Bridge attackers to have entered the UK through the Irish land border.
The revelation that Rachid Redouane arrived from Dublin has led to speculation Jihadists may have turned to Irish as their gateway to perpetrate more terrorist attacks.
According to intelligent investigation, the 30 year old Moroccan failed to secure asylum in the UK and thus moved to the Irish Republic where he got married to a British woman and applied for a European Union card.
“Anyone from Britain can very easily travel to Ireland under the radar by travelling to Belfast and at Belfast airports as well as the port, there is no passport controls,” says Dr Umar Al Qadri, Imam at the Islamic Centre of Ireland.
He adds the fact that all one needs to get to Dublin is to travel via the bus makes it even much easier for them to “come to Dublin, come to Ireland and then stay under the radar.”
Security officials from Ireland were called in after revelation that the London Bridge attackers had resided at Rathmines in South Dublin.
One man was arrested in Limerick on Monday night and another 24 hours later in Wexford.
Irish Republic Intelligent Agency
The Irish Republic intelligent community does monitor a small number of people suspected to have been radicalized but Redouane wasn’t on their watch list.
Tom Clonan, a retired Army Captain, fears that as a result of incapability, the current security climate may be threatened much more than any other time in history.
He explains that the attackers spot weaknesses in the security system and that Ireland remains the weakest point of Europe’s security block. This is as a result of uncoordinated intelligence gathering in addition to wanting policing infrastructure.
For a long time analysts have feared that the increased number of Ireland’s Muslims travelling to fight in areas such as Syria raised the possibility of them being radicalized before returning home to Irish soil.
This would in turn pose security threat to not only the country but also Europe as a whole.
It is about time Ireland reviewed its intelligence gathering and sharing. The long-time worry that jihadists could consider it their backdoor to Europe has become a reality.
