How would Ireland cope with a '7/7' style attack?

jeanjolie · 10-05-2017 10:17am #1

It's general knowledge that this country has virtually no preparation in the event of something like the London bombings occurring in Dublin.

So if ISIS were to decide and successfully carry out a terrorist attack on our public transportation system, what exactly would it 'look like'?

What do you think the aftermath in regards to our attitudes and the governments attitudes towards legislation would be? Would the Gardai be viewed as a serious police force compared to how we view them now?

Pyridine · 10-05-2017 11:09am

jeanjolie wrote: »

It's general knowledge that this country has virtually no preparation in the event of something like the London bombings occurring in Dublin.

So if ISIS were to decide and successfully carry out a terrorist attack on our public transportation system, what exactly would it 'look like'?

These types of attacks would never happen in Ireland. Just picture the scene...some guy waiting for a bus or train all ready to do the deed. He just didn't realise that the bus or train will be 45mins - 1 hour late and so he just goes pop himself at some stop in the back of beyond as the timer runs out.

Everyone complains about how unreliable the public transport is in Ireland but it is actually a cunning plan by the authorities!

Dravokivich · 10-05-2017 11:16am

Well for a start we can investigate and act on funding for these organisations. Which appears to be rather successful lately.

LithiumKid1976 · 10-05-2017 11:17am

we would just sit back and wait for them to tire themselves out of all the killings or run out of ammo, then our Gardai can run up and pepper spray them when they are at the weakest point...

Hector Bellend · 10-05-2017 11:21am

we'd phone Joe Duffy and blame it in an innocent third party

Dravokivich · 10-05-2017 11:21am

LithiumKid1976 wrote: »

we would just sit back and wait for them to tire themselves out of all the killings or run out of ammo, then our Gardai can run up and pepper spray them when they are at the weakest point...

They've only run out of ammo after they've blown themselves up. You'll be better off sending in a few cleaners.

murpho999 · 10-05-2017 11:33am

I often wonder about this.

I remember after the Charlie Hebdo attack in Paris and how the guys were hunted down.

There were loads of police helicopters in the sky.

AFAIK the gardai only have two.

There's an armed respose unit but how big is it.

Ireland is ripe for attack and I wonder how it hasn't happened as I think we're poorly equipped to deal with it.

steddyeddy · 10-05-2017 11:34am

I suppose how we coped with the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. The largest loss of life in a single day in the troubles. The D/M bombings were a result of collusion between security forces and terror groups. It would be hard for a group like ISIS to top that if they were working in isolation.

NIMAN · 10-05-2017 11:39am

Simple answer is, we don't know how well we are prepared. Hopefully we will never have to find out.

I don't get those who use this as a stick to beat the Gov up with. We are no more ripe or ill prepared than a lot of nations are. Consider nations with a similar population to ours.

New Zealand
Turkmenistan
Oman
Croatia
Costa Rica

How well are they prepared?

Its hardly fair to expect a small neutral nation like Ireland with little or no defence spending to be as well equipped as France, Germany, UK, Spain etc. They are big nations.

osarusan · 10-05-2017 11:43am

If somebody with allegiance to ISIS wants to rent/hijack/etc a car or truck and plough into a load of people, that is easily done, and there is very very little than could be done to stop it.

A few such incidents on busy shopping streets in major towns cities, or at sports venues, or outside nightclubs late at night, could bring the country to a standstill.

But they don't happen - which makes me think that the number of ISIS members/operatives in Ireland and Europe is probably dramatically overstated.

Dr Crayfish · 10-05-2017 11:47am

I can't see it happening. No point in wasting a load of money on it a la Bear Patrol in The Simpsons. You would think we'd have plenty of experience anyway from the North situation and previous terror incidents here.

Omackeral · 10-05-2017 11:51am

Shure look, be grand.

Omackeral · 10-05-2017 11:56am

How long did the Love Ulster riot go on for back in 2006? That was more or less a load of scumbags acting the b*llox and robbing footlocker. They wrecked the gaff... and the authorities were ready for trouble on that day. Imagine now it's not just Anto and Deco but an operation with a semblance of organisation and a few automatic weapons at their disposal. Whether they hit on a random afternoon or a packed out Paddy's Day parade, we'd probably be sitting ducks.

keeponhurling · 10-05-2017 12:00pm

steddyeddy wrote: »

I suppose how we coped with the Dublin and Monaghan bombings. The largest loss of life in a single day in the troubles. The D/M bombings were a result of collusion between security forces and terror groups. It would be hard for a group like ISIS to top that if they were working in isolation.

Well that's worrying, given as the Barron Report concluded

Department of Justice files just vanished into thin air (all of them)
Gardai files went missing
The Gardai were deemed to have stopped their investigation early
The cabinet showed a lack of concern towards catching the bombers.

One would hope that 40 years on we would deal with it better, but who knows

Wile E. Coyote · 10-05-2017 12:11pm

jeanjolie wrote: »

It's general knowledge that this country has virtually no preparation in the event of something like the London bombings occurring in Dublin.

I'm pretty sure procedure and preparation plans for possible terrorist attacks aren't released to the pubic for 'general knowledge' purposes.

gandalf · 10-05-2017 12:45pm

To have an attack on our public transport system we need to have a public transport system in the first place!

biscuithead · 10-05-2017 12:54pm

What exactly do you mean by "preparation"?

Do you mean "preventing" it, like what didn't happen in London?

The_Kew_Tour · 10-05-2017 12:55pm

Nobody will ever touch us

We are Irish

Everyone loves us.

Ole ole ole!

wakka12 · 10-05-2017 12:57pm

There are some defences in place, I remember a year or two ago there was a military training exercise in dundrum shopping centre. Also the cost of keeping a well trained anti terror defence is not worth it here as the chances are unlikely. In other countries like france its needed and worth the cost because it seems to happen a lot and it reassures the population to some extent

Richard Hillman · 10-05-2017 1:31pm

osarusan wrote: »

If somebody with allegiance to ISIS wants to rent/hijack/etc a car or truck and plough into a load of people, that is easily done, and there is very very little than could be done to stop it.

A few such incidents on busy shopping streets in major towns cities, or at sports venues, or outside nightclubs late at night, could bring the country to a standstill.

But they don't happen - which makes me think that the number of ISIS members/operatives in Ireland and Europe is probably dramatically overstated.

I think peoples problem is that if there was a "Lone Wolf" attack (and they never ever turn out to be a lone wolf) it would take probably about 10-15 minutes before somebody with a gun arrives. You could go on a shooting or a driving spree in Dublin CIty Centre for yonks before an armed garda arrived.

Richard Hillman · 10-05-2017 1:38pm

I know there is a lot of stuff about costs but anybody that has been around the likes of France, Belgium and Italy of late will tell you that there are armed soldiers at most trainstations, shopping centers and tourist areas.

I dont think it is too much to ask to have a couple of armoured cars at the top of O'Connell Street and Grafton Street. Then an extra vehicle at Lansdowne Road or Croke Park for large events. It is not exactly breaking the bank to have 3 soldiers at each area that I have pointed out.

osarusan · 10-05-2017 1:39pm

Richard Hillman wrote: »

I think peoples problem is that if there was a "Lone Wolf" attack (and they never ever turn out to be a lone wolf) it would take probably about 10-15 minutes before somebody with a gun arrives. You could go on a shooting or a driving spree in Dublin CIty Centre for yonks before an armed garda arrived.

Sure, I agree, the lack of armed police would definitely make any immediate response less effective, and mean that an attacker is less likely to be stopped (in comparison to most other countries, where police are routinely armed).

I wonder, for example, if there was an attack in the centre of Ennis, just how long it would take for any armed police to arrive. The ERU has a number of bases, the locations of which are secret. Are there any police weapons anywhere in the county?

biscuithead · 10-05-2017 1:39pm

Whether there is someone with a gun or not rarely if ever affects the outcome significantly. Changing the whole fabric of a society to preempt something hypothetical and extremely unlikely is not they way we should live our lives.

Besides what good is a gun against a bomb that has just gone off?

hmmm · 10-05-2017 1:43pm

After a couple of thousand deaths, we'd all happily accept the leader of ISIS as our deputy head of government, while listening to a spokesperson for ISIS telling us all to "move on" and how these things happen as part of a war.

Oh wait, we only expect the Protestant community to do this.

biscuithead · 10-05-2017 1:48pm

3 soldiers and a few armoured cars will prevent what exactly? Nothing.

fixXxer · 10-05-2017 1:52pm

I always thought the bridges across the liffey would be an easy point to hit if someone wanted to attack Ireland. Heavy damage to O'Connell Bridge and a few of the other big ones and the city would be in chaos for months after.

jacksie66 · 10-05-2017 1:55pm

This post has been deleted.

biko · 10-05-2017 2:03pm

jeanjolie wrote: »

So if ISIS were to decide and successfully carry out a terrorist attack on our public transportation system, what exactly would it 'look like'?

Nice try Abdullah but do yer own fecking planning!

Your Face · 10-05-2017 2:08pm

We'd give them the dole.

oppenheimer1 · 10-05-2017 2:33pm

hmmm wrote: »

After a couple of thousand deaths, we'd all happily accept the leader of ISIS as our deputy head of government, while listening to a spokesperson for ISIS telling us all to "move on" and how these things happen as part of a war.

Oh wait, we only expect the Protestant community to do this.

What?

topper75 · 10-05-2017 3:05pm

fixxxer wrote: »

I always thought the bridges across the liffey would be an easy point to hit if someone wanted to attack Ireland. Heavy damage to O'Connell Bridge and a few of the other big ones and the city would be in chaos for months after.

Yeah.

But living 5 counties away as I do, I'd probably experience up to 30 seconds of mild disappointment and then carry on with what I was doing.

#extremistdubwatch

How would Ireland cope with a '7/7' style attack?

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