{"id":515607,"date":"2026-06-24T05:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T05:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/515607\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T05:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T05:46:09","slug":"significant-disruption-expected-during-eu-presidency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/515607\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Significant disruption’ expected during EU Presidency"},"content":{"rendered":"

There will be significant disruption at times during Ireland’s EU Presidency, which gets under way next Wednesday, according to garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n

Hundreds of EU meetings will take place during the six-month term, including a significant gathering of EU leaders here in November, which will be the largest diplomatic event the State has ever hosted.<\/p>\n

Concerns have been expressed about Ireland’s ability to deal with security issues that may arise while the eyes of Europe are on Ireland, but garda\u00ed say they have been making extensive preparations to deal with any potential threats.<\/p>\n

Over the next six months Ireland will host over 270 EU meetings, with more than 100 of them taking place in Dublin Castle, which has been closed to the public since early May and will remain so until December.<\/p>\n

\"An
\nSome 40 heads of state are expected for a big political event in November<\/p>\n

Assistant Secretary General with the Office of Public Works Rosemary Collier said while Ireland has hosted five EU presidencies, the most recent in 2013 and 2004, this will be bigger than ever before.<\/p>\n

“There’s a huge range of dinners, receptions, ministerial, informal events, meetings and bilateral meetings. The European Political Community event in November, where over 40 heads of state will come to Ireland, that’s certainly the biggest political event that will ever have happened in Ireland,” she said.<\/p>\n

“So, it’s a huge undertaking in terms of the volume of events, but also the scale and importance of the events.”<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed said there will be “significant disruption” at times after the EU Presidency begins on 1 July.<\/p>\n

Chief Superintendent for Roads Policing, Events, Public Order and Public Safety Jarlath Lennon said the disruption and delays are inevitable but that the public will be informed about the potential impacts.<\/p>\n

“I would say day to day people will not notice any difference, but on occasion there will be significant disruption, primarily in Dublin city centre, at various times.<\/p>\n

“It is one of the biggest that we have ever policed in the history of the organisation. We will have significantly more numbers than people would normally see on the ground on duty, and the security of the EU presidency is the priority of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na over the next six months,” he said.<\/p>\n

To cater for the volume of VIPs flying into Ireland, Dublin Airport has brought its old terminal, built in the 1940s and decommissioned in the 1970s, back into use.<\/p>\n

\"Dublin
\nDublin Airport will see diplomats pass through in a separate space to the general public<\/p>\n

Head of Media Relations at Dublin Airport Authority Graeme McQueen said it is designed to ensure other people travelling by air, particularly over the summer period, do not face disruption.<\/p>\n

“All this activity will happen without people really knowing it. Everybody else is going to go through Terminal One and Terminal Two, as usual.<\/p>\n

“It’s our busiest summer ever, but we’re conscious that we don’t want to impact the operation over there. So, we’ll have all the EU delegates coming through the old central building behind me,” he said.<\/p>\n

“We’re the front door to Ireland for the EU Presidency, and we want to make sure that everybody has a good experience of Ireland.”<\/p>\n

However, the sighting of drones off Dublin Bay during the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last year<\/a> has raised concerns about security and our ability to fend off any attacks by bad actors .<\/p>\n

Former TD Cathal Berry, who was also a member of the Defence Forces’ Army Ranger wing, and who is now a consultant with Red Flags, said Ireland faces a number of potential problems.<\/p>\n

“Number one is definitely cyber, particularly if they target our infrastructure and our transportation networks. Number two is airspace, and we saw with President Zelensky’s visit back in December.<\/p>\n

“It’s very easy to interfere with Irish airspace or any airspace using small drones or GPS transponders or whatever you want to do,” Mr Berry said.<\/p>\n

Adding: “Number three, then from maritime perspective, there are big concerns there, particularly the Russian shadow fleet. And number four is critical infrastructure on the seabed.<\/p>\n

“If you want to really humiliate Ireland and, by extension, the European Union, and you could target some of our subsea infrastructure, the electricity, the gas pipelines, and the data cables.”<\/p>\n

Mr Berry said there are wonderful people in the Defence Forces, but “unfortunately haven’t been properly resourced”.<\/p>\n

“I always equated it to like being a champion jockey without a horse, and unfortunately that’s where our Defence Forces sit at the moment,” he said.<\/p>\n

Mr Berry added: “We’re going to be very reliant on our neighbours and friends across the European Union and beyond to support these summits.<\/p>\n

Watch: Cathal Berry talks about the security challenges for the EU Presidency<\/p>\n

\n

“When President Zelensky came, unfortunately, we had to require the assistance of Portuguese police, French police, and UK police as well, to provide some semblance of security from an anti-drone perspective around government buildings and Leinster House, which is not the way to do business.<\/p>\n

“It’s perfectly okay to ask for a small bit of assistance or some token assistance, but the scale of assistance required here is completely unprecedented.”<\/p>\n

Garda\u00ed who are the security lead for the EU Presidency said they have been preparing for 18 months for the EU Presidency, visiting recent host countries, procuring vehicles and equipment, doing additional training and scenario exercises and investing significantly in drone and counter-drone capabilities that they are confident will be up to European law enforcement standards.<\/p>\n

In a statement, they said Deputy Commissioner for Policing Operations Shawna Coxon has met with the Department of Defence, the Defence Forces and policing and security personnel from abroad as part of those preparations.<\/p>\n

It said it has procured items “vehicles and items of equipment to ensure the delivery of an appropriate security operation during the presidency and enhance the security and protection capabilities of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na currently and beyond the presidency”.<\/p>\n

This includes a tactical truck for use by specialist firearm garda units including an Emergency Response Unit (ERU), and Armed Support Units (ASUs).<\/p>\n

It will also include a fixed-wing aircraft, 78 cars for transporting dignitaries and officials, 75 motorcycles for escort duties, 12 minibuses for transporting garda\u00ed as well as enhanced body armour for public order units, hostile vehicle mitigation and ICT systems and support.<\/p>\n

\"Garda
\nGarda motorbikes are just some of the equipment that will be in use for security purposes<\/p>\n

“An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na has invested in additional training for garda\u00ed in areas such as close protection; strategic, tactical and operational command; public order, and motorcycle escort. There has been significant investment in our drone and counter-drone capability over the last 18 months,” Ms Coxon said.<\/p>\n

“Garda managers have been engaged in a series of table-top exercises on potential scenarios for policing the EU Presidency.”<\/p>\n

Speaking to the media earlier this year, Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly said he was confident that An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na has the capacity and capability to deal with drones, up to the law enforcement standard across Europe.<\/p>\n

Mr Berry believes that Ireland is under particular pressure to get the security right because of the feeling among European allies that we are not doing enough generally on the defence front.<\/p>\n

“I think the best we can hope for is that we get away with it, but I think we haven’t gotten away with it already, because I think Europe is looking at Ireland with fairly jaundiced eyes at the moment.<\/p>\n

“They’re saying, look, all we’re asking you to do is be able to protect yourself and guard your own backyard and not be a burden on us,” Mr Berry said.<\/p>\n

“We have our own problems in continental Europe, without having to look after a fairly rich country who has opted not to provide for its own defence.”<\/p>\n

\"Painting
\nPainters have been busy in Dublin Castle ahead of next week<\/p>\n

While the big issues are being dealt with, the little details are also important for those preparing for the presidency.<\/p>\n

In the ornate halls of Dublin Castle in recent weeks, specialist restoration teams have been on their hands and knees, using tiny paintbrushes, to restore the original features to some of the rooms that will take centre stage during the presidency.<\/p>\n

Overseeing these painstaking preparations, which have been two years in the making, is Curator at Dublin Castle William Derham.<\/p>\n

\n

“It’s important the castle looks its best because it is the chief show place of the Irish State.<\/p>\n

“When Ireland joined the European Union in 1973 and we held our first presidency in 1975, this was the natural location for it and leading on from that, the castle has been at the heart of every presidency. It’s all hands on deck,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It is pressurised, but we’ll get there.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There will be significant disruption at times during Ireland’s EU Presidency, which gets under way next Wednesday, according…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515608,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[61,60,43],"class_list":["post-515607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515607"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515607\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515608"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}