It is estimated that some 40 Irish men have gone to fight for ISIS in Syria and Iraq.
It is thought many of them joined the group, having been recruited from Europe.
It comes as figures show more than three times as many Irish Muslims have been to Syria compared to British Muslims.
One in every 1,500 Irish Muslims have travelled to Syria. In the UK, it is more like one in every 5,000.
Newstalk's Shona Murray is on the Turkish-Syria border.
She spoke exclusively to 'Abu Omar' - not his real name - who was a group leader of the Free Syrian Army.
He was forced to fight with ISIS from July, after the Islamic State took over his town.
But he defected and escaped from Syria into Turkey just a few weeks ago.
Link to the Newstalk interviews -
https://www.newstalk.ie/Former-ISIS-operative-Irish-fighters-IS-Syria-Turkey-interview-Abu-Omar
A FORMER ISIS operative claims that there are around 40 Irish fighters with ISIS in the Middle East.
The man, ‘Abu Omar’ (not his real name), spoke to Newstalk’s Shona Murray at the Turkish-Syria border.
He told her he had been a group leader in the Free Syrian Army, then forced to fight with ISIS for a time before defecting.
In the interview, he said:
All the countries around the earth, the Western countries, have fighters with ISIS inside Syria now. There was some of UK people, Irish, French… the Irish fighters are perfect snipers. Every place they need snipers they move the Irish there.
But the Irish fighters they was around 40.
They know them from them names as Abu Omar er Irlandie, Irish, Abu Omar Irish.
They walk in with the British every time, and they see them together.
Murray said Omar told her the European fighters see themselves as part of the formation of the caliphate. Omar said that some Irish were involved in beheadings against local people and local militias, though he did not have video evidence.
Omar also said there is “much talk” about attacking Western soil. But priority is to expand their control over Syria and Iraq and the Levant region.
He claimed that there are members in Europe and the US who could make a bomb inside any country they wanted, but they are waiting a decision.
America, Britain, France, Denmark could be first to be targeted because they make cartoons about Mohammed, he said. “So they focus about it and they promise the fight in a few years, big thing will happen there.”
http://www.thejournal.ie/interview-isis-fighter-ireland-1930654-Feb2015/
If this is true, then it is very worrying indeed. Considering our small Muslim population and that a large splice are only of school going age, for 40 to go off and join ISIS shows a high level of radicalisation here. The Minister for Justice has previously stated that she would consider stripping returning Jihadis of Irish citizenship. But this will be only possible if they are naturalised dual citizens.
How should we deal with this?