Circuses

One of the largest military operations in the history of the 26-County State is being prepared in advance of the back-to-back state visits of British monarch Elizabeth Windsor and US President Barack Obama.

A massive and unprecedented security lockdown is being put together for May, when the two figureheads will visit within days of each other.

Windsor will be in the country from Tuesday, May 17 to Friday, May 20. President Obama is expected to arrive that weekend and will most likely be in Ireland from Sunday, May 22 to Tuesday, May 24 on his way to a state visit to London.

Although the schedule is still being worked out, Taoiseach Enda Kenny said President Obama would attend a number of official events in Dublin, as well as visiting his ‘ancestral home’ in Moneygall, County Offaly.

The focus of the Obama visit will be to boost public morale in the face of severe cutbacks and other austerity measures.

Senior gardai are reported to be already working with their counterparts in England and the United States in advance of the visits.

Snipers and specialist unit of the 26-County Army are also to receive training to identify and target potential threats. It is estimated the combined cost of the visits will reach over twenty million pounds.

President Obama will travel with his own extensive secret-service detail.

Giant US Air Force C-17 transport aircraft will land armoured limousines for Obama’s cavalcade. Blackhawk helicopters are likely to be used to shuttle him around, while F-15 Eagle fighter jets based in Britain will be on standby.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police in London will provide the royal protection squad, which travels with the monarch at all times.

Support is expected to be provided by garda special units, including the ‘Emergency Response Unit’, while the Ranger Wing of the 26-County Army using snipers -- some in helicopters with .5 heavy-calibre sniper rifles able to kill at over a mile -- will be deployed for close protection of residences where she will stay, most likely Farmleigh House in the Phoenix Park.

Windsor is expected to land at Baldonnel airbase. It will be the first visit of a British monarch in a century, the last being the fifth ‘King George’, who spent six days in Dublin in 1911.

Much of the 26-County state will be covered by no-fly zones for both visits, while mobile-phone communications face being knocked out for periods of time.

The Army Air Defence Regiment, with surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft guns, will be used to protect airports used by the VIP visitors.

A media campaign is planned to attempt to undermine potential republican protests and promote the peace process and the normalisation of partition.

CENSORSHIP BEGINS

A Dublin pub owner has already been forced to take down a sign declaring the royals are unwelcome to visit his establishment.

John Stokes said he reluctantly agreed to take down the banner after a senior garda threatened to object to his application for alcohol licences at Dublin District Court.

The publican said his objection was not against Windsor as a person, but as the head of state and commander of the British Forces.

“This is nothing against English people. We’ve a lot of English people in the pub, we show English football and we’re quite happy to do that,” he said.

“I do feel it’s not the right time for the queen to visit this country and I feel I have a democratic right to express that view.

“Obviously that’s not the view of the guards.

“She still occupies part of our country and as long as she does I will always object to her presence in this country.”

Urgent Appeal