Spectators attending the Irish Open at Trump International Golf Links in Doonbeg, Co Clare, will face significant security checks in an attempt to ensure no weapons or sinister items are brought on to the course while the US president is present.
Precautions for what one source described as one of the “most complex” security operations to ever be take place in the State are expected to include signal jammers, which disrupt the use of drones and other devices.
Instructions issued by An Garda Síochána on Monday to the tens of thousands of people expected to travel to the golf tournament later this week include advice not to rely on satnavs in their vehicles due to road closures.
US military Chinook helicopters were spotted in the sky over Dublin on Monday, flying from the UK towards the Irish Air Corps base at Baldonnel. It is understood they were transporting equipment for the US side of the security operation surrounding Trump’s visits to Dublin and Doonbeg.
About 4,000 Irish and US security personnel, including from the Garda, Defence Forces and US Secret Service, are expected to be deployed, mainly in Clare and Dublin, according to sources familiar with the operation. This includes about 1,000 US personnel and 3,000 Irish, mainly from the Garda.
The two-day visit has been declared an “extraordinary event” by Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly, meaning Garda leave and rest periods can be curtailed, and a longer working day can be imposed.
Garda and Defence Forces teams will be deployed, using new anti-drone ground technology to neutralise any encroachments from the sky. There will be a significant armed presence among the Garda and US security staff, including snipers.
However, the key concern relates to possible efforts by protesters to stage what one source described as “a spectacular incursion to try to embarrass” the Irish and US security forces.
A number of Garda sources told The Irish Times that securing the Doonbeg venue, a golf course with beach access in a remote area, would be “a nightmare” and “one of the most complex challenges ever” for Irish policing.
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While Trump visited the course and resort in 2019 during his first term as a president, he did so to play a round of golf rather than to watch a tournament expected to be attended by 75,000 people between Thursday and Sunday.
The policing and military demands of hosting Trump come while the State holds the Council of the European Union presidency, which has been placing its own demands on security services.
Trump will visit Dublin on Saturday, meeting Taoiseach Micheál Martin at Farmleigh and President Catherine Connolly at Áras an Uachtaráin, both in the Phoenix Park, before travelling to Doonbeg for the Irish Open. He is also expected to attend an event at the US ambassador to Ireland’s residence, also in Phoenix Park. The park will be closed to the public from 11pm on Thursday until Saturday evening.
Garda command centres have been established in Dublin and Clare to co-ordinate the policing response, under the name Operation Far Sunrise. This involves the deployment of armed members of the Special Detective Unit, which combats terrorism, and armed teams from the Emergency Response Unit and Armed Support Unit.
Other resources – such as the Army’s bomb disposal teams and the Ranger Wing – are also available. The Garda’s public order resources will be on standby and have been strengthened significantly since the November 2023 Dublin riots.
However, sources said the traditional tactics of combing areas for threats, declaring them safe and then using personnel to hold those areas until Trump has left, or passed through, is the bedrock of the ground operation.