A security and defence analyst has warned Irish fans travelling to Euro 2016 that they face an “unquantifiable” threat this summer, while going so far as to urge those that haven’t secured tickets to avoid travelling to French host cities.
The month-long competition starts on Friday and will be held in stadiums across the country, which has been repeatedly targeted by Islamist militants, including in a series of attacks on 13 November that killed 130 people in Paris.
Declan Power, who previously served with the Irish Defence Forces, also opined that fans should be vigilant to threats and have plans in place in the event of terrorist attacks.
Speaking on Today with Sean O'Rourke, he said: "People need to be cognisant of what they are getting into. And there's a risk that is unquantifiable at the moment.
“Security on continental Europe is in a very fluid state since the attacks in Belgium and France.
“And, also, it needs to be stated in black and white that unlike other situations where Irish citizens may have travelled to that have been dangerous, in this situation, Irish and other European citizens are the target. That's a reality.
“Having said that, the other side of the coin is that the French will move heaven and earth to ensure that this will be secured, and it’s such an obvious target that maybe everything will go well.”
For those planning to travel who haven’t secured match tickets at this juncture, he offered this advice: “The first question I would ask is, do you need to go?
“If you haven’t tickets got, if you haven’t planned for this, I would say sit this one out because there will be other opportunities. I’m not saying that you give in to terrorism across the board, but in this situation, as I said, it’s in a fluid state.”
Power also advised fans travelling on their conduct and offered guidelines as to how he believed risk levels could be reduced, adding: “If you’ve the tickets bought and you’re committed to going and you’re deciding for a variety of reasons that you’re not going to be cowed down by this, take into account the realities.
“You’re going to have a lot of overt French security on the ground; you’re going to have armed troops, heavily armed police.
“Irish fans are used to this to an extent, like when they went to Poland there was a similar security profile.
“So be prepared to comply with these people - they’re not going to have a high tolerance threshold under the circumstances.
“You can still enjoy yourself, but you have to keep your wits about you.”
“Have done a little bit of research, have the emergency numbers for the Department of Foreign Affairs, check out the number for the emergency services in France - the necessary ones for the police and the ambulances services.
“Also, have a little plan in your head. You’re going to go to a particular venue. What route are you going to take? Can you avoid to an extent or minimise the amounts of exposure to high-intensity crowd areas? Because those are going to be the targeted areas.
“They’re going to be policed fan zones so the French will have a lot of overt and covert security in those areas, so if you’re going to celebrate after and before, those areas are probably going to have a higher level of managed security than unofficial areas.”
Urging fans not to drink to excess, he cautioned: “Ease back on knocking back the beers because you’re in an operational theatre so to speak, to military parlance.
“You can still enjoy yourself, but you have to keep your wits about you.”
