GARDAÍ ARE liaising with the PSNI and international police forces in an effort to establish the risk of a terrorist attack during the visits of Queen Elizabeth and US president Barack Obama next month.
Thousands of gardaí will be involved in providing security at all of the locations visited by the Queen and the US president.
The combined security cost of the visits is expected to reach about €7 million.
Security teams from England and the US have already visited Ireland in recent weeks to check on the locations to be visited and to plan how the best security can be put in place there.
The threat of a terrorist attack from dissident republicans during the Queen’s visit has heightened since the murder in Omagh last Saturday of Catholic PSNI constable Ronan Kerr.
Gardaí believe that even if dissidents do not try to target the Queen, they may try to plant a bomb during the visit in order to generate international publicity for their activities.
Any threat to President Obama would likely come from international terrorists who believe he will be more vulnerable to attack during his short stay here compared to the US.
