IN AUGUST 2018 Pope Francis will visit Ireland, it was confirmed yesterday.

The news comes after an official invitation was extended to the Pope by Taoiseach Enda Kenny after a meeting between the pair in the Vatican yesterday morning.

While the visit is likely to be subject to huge security, the last visit of a Pope was shrouded in fears of an assassination attempt.

In State Papers made available in 2009, it was revealed that there were fears around Pope John Paul II’s 1979.

The Pope’s three-day visit came within weeks of the murder by the IRA of Lord Louis Mountbatten – cousin of Queen Elizabeth II – and members of his family in a boat bombing off Mullaghmore, County Sligo.

A previously secret Garda memo on the security risks made public by the National Archives Office in 2009 says the threat came from “subversives” who are not identified.

However, a Department of Foreign Affairs memo written two days after the Mountbatten assassination says there is a “generally accepted threat of reprisals from already restive Loyalists” in Northern Ireland.

The file shows initial fears centred on the Aer Lingus Boeing 747 that flew the Pope from Rome in case it could be sabotaged, hijacked or attacked while in the air.

The memo from the gardaí said all of the outdoor appearances of the Pope “pose sizeable security problems in that he could be targeted in a variety of ways”.

The memo says all measures which are “reasonable and practical” will be implemented to “deter, detect and prevent” any hostile activities against the Pope.

“There is no such thing as absolute security. All that the Gardai can do is aim for optimum security.”

Personal Attack

Pope John Paul II raises his hand to bless a crowd of over 400,000 at Limerick racecourse. AP / Press Association Images AP / Press Association Images / Press Association Images

It says the Pope was at greatest risk from a sniper attack during motorcades.

A “personal attack” was most likely either on a motorcade or when he was meeting people at venues.

Bombs could also placed at venues with the “object of killing the Pope or causing panic in the crowd”.

Huge crowds attended a series of open air masses around the country in 1979, with over a million people, roughly a third of the population, attending the first special mass in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.

A separate memo from the Department of Justice expressed worry about a rise in burglaries as so many people would have been out of their homes.

Security sources say that while no plan has even been discussed with regards to the Pope, they are confident they can handle it. They point to the 2011 visits of Barack Obama and Queen Elizabeth II as proof of their readiness.

With AFP reporting.

Read: Pope Francis’ 2018 visit to Ireland will be a ‘great gift’ – Archbishop Diarmuid Martin