Garda Commissioner Drew Harris has confirmed English officers will act as observers or spotters while in Dublin this weekend as thousands of England fans descend on the city, but that the officers will have “no policing powers”.
It comes as those England fans travelling to Dublin for Saturday’s Nation’s League match have been warned by the Football Association that the Garda plan to enforce a ban on public drinking.
Garda leave has been cancelled for officers ahead of the 5pm fixture and Operation Dearóil will use experience of dealing with stag parties to keep order among supporters as the fixture returns to the Irish capital for the first time in nine years.
Mr Harris said English officers are to be deployed in Garda control rooms, helping to monitor CCTV footage from across Dublin, and could also work on the streets with Garda Public Order Units.
“They have no policing powers,” he said of the English police officers coming to Dublin.
“They’re there to observe, to assist us, and if we have to deal with disorder, they may be able to assist us in terms of (identifying) individuals, particularly if they have been banned from international travel.
“There is a scheme in England where some fans are banned from international football travel. And obviously travelling to Dublin, even though we have the Common Travel Area, still would be a breach of those sorts of bans.”
“We’re live to all the various public order threats that may arise,” Mr Harris said when asked about football hooligans possibly coming to Dublin and any influence the far-right may have in that.
“This (operation) would be both for the arrival of (England) fans and the for the maintenance of order in the city centre and at the football match,” he said.
“At the Aviva Stadium itself, the vast majority of fans are going to be Ireland fans. And part of our operation is to make sure all fans can travel backwards and forwards to the match in safety and fans in the ground can watch it in safety free from the threat of public disorder or attack.”
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The English Football Association have published their official “ticket-holder information” for those among the 3,000 travelling to the Aviva Stadium, with the demand many times over the official allocation.
Fans were reminded that “drinking is not allowed in the streets or public spaces in Ireland. This will be enforced by local police”.
In the Dublin City Council area it is not allowed to “consume or attempt to consume intoxicating liquor on a road or in a public place within the functional area of the council” and alcohol can be seized by police.
The FA instructions add that “any supporters who are visibly drunk may be refused entry into the stadium by local authorities”.
Thousands of fans are expected to travel without tickets to sample the atmosphere around Dublin, with the early evening kick-off meaning there is potential for all-day drinking in the city centre and 350 specialist officers will be deployed over the weekend.
The FA, however, has not yet repeated their warning issued in 2015 when they wrote to fans to warn them not to chant anti-IRA songs.
That fixture was the first clash between the nations since 1995 when their friendly was abandoned after crowd trouble at Landsdowne Road.
Under Roy Hodgson, England played out a goalless draw nine years ago in a lunch-time match, with the kick-off time selected with public order in mind.
English fans with tickets for Saturday’s clash have been told they must pick them up from specific locations in Dublin with time slots to collect. They were also warned over flares and smoke bombs being prohibited.
“It is important to highlight that these items are not only illegal inside a football stadium, but these prohibited items can also cause great harm to people. These pyrotechnics and flares can burn at up to 2,000C and can cause significant injuries to carriers and fellow spectators,” they said.
“We have also seen several incidents that have resulted in people experiencing breathing difficulties, distress, and discomfort.”