With talks of scores of cells of radicalised Islamist extremists, trained in places like Syria and embedded across Europe, waiting for an opportune time to strike with terror attacks, it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that there are some here in Ireland and that we could be victims in the same way as Madrid, London, Paris and Brussels were over the past 12 years.
WITH talks of scores of cells of radicalised Islamist extremists, trained in places like Syria and embedded across Europe, waiting for an opportune time to strike with terror attacks, it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that there are some here in Ireland and that we could be victims in the same way as Madrid, London, Paris and Brussels were over the past 12 years. These people lie in wait and are prepared to sacrifice their own lives as suicide bombers with the aim of inflicting as much loss of life as they can manage and it is nearly always innocent civilians.
Describing their actions in Brussels last week as ‘terrible and cowardly,’ President Michael D Higgins said: ‘We must not allow them to establish fear, which is their purpose.’ Unfortunately, it is very difficult for the authorities to detect these terror cells as they deliberately keep a low profile, but there has to be a lot more that can be done internationally in terms of the sharing of intelligence and acting on information received.
People cannot let the threat terrorists pose interfere with their daily lives, but vigilance is necessary and any suspicious activity should be reported. The Brussels attacks will lead to tighter airport security controls internationally that will cause some delays, but they are a small price to pay for some peace of mind in the crazy world we live in.
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