THE FIRST OVERT signs of the impending Donald Trump visit to Ireland this weekend took place this morning as a flight of four Chinook helicopters arrived over Dublin.

The heavy lift choppers arrived from the east coast of Britain, likely lifting after a brief stay in Liverpool’s John Lennon Airport, and came in over the southern suburbs of the capital after a short flight across the Irish Sea.

The helicopters, using the call sign GRIT41, crossed over the Irish coast near Dun Laoighaire and then were captured by The Journal as they flew over the southern suburbs before heading in formation to the Irish Air Corps base at Baldonnell, South County Dublin. 

It is understood that the Chinooks brought equipment and people who will manage the security operation for the visit of the US President. 

They will also provide transport for the US President’s entourage while he travels in Marine One. 

Timings may vary, but it is anticipated that Donald Trump will arrive in Air Force One, likely the Qatari gifted 747, on Saturday morning before visiting President Catherine Connolly and meeting the Taoiseach Micheál Martin.

He will also have a get-together with his friend, Ambassador to Ireland, Ed Walsh and a large number of guests at an event in the US Ambassador’s residence in the Phoenix Park. It is expected that by 3pm on Saturday Trump will be on his way to Shannon and Dublin will return to normal. 

The large equipment for the visit, including bullet-proof cars and even the Marine One helicopters will likely arrive by large military transport aircraft in keeping with previous visits. 

As revealed by The Journal the US organisers are scrambling to find hotel rooms for a potential entourage of 1,000 people, many of whom will be US security officers. 

The entourage includes a large contingent of Secret Service close protection officers, White House workers, pilots, drivers, chefs, aircraft maintenance, medics and the journalists who cover the US Government. 

It is also anticipated that Trump family members will also travel with him, and they will have their own individual security details. 

Much of the planning for the visit is handled by the US Embassy in Dublin, but a team had arrived in recent weeks from Washington DC to assist. 

Security preparations are ongoing in Ireland for An Garda Síochána and the Irish Defence Forces. 

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) has raised the issue of a lack of accommodation for gardaí. Thousands of members will be deployed across the country, but particularly in Dublin, Shannon and Doonbeg to secure the operation. 

The Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly has declared Operation Far Sunrise as an extraordinary event. This means garda leave and rest days can be cancelled. 

Part of the issue is that a massive amount of gardaí are required because of the requests from the United States. This includes gardaí who were trained in specialist tactical considerations such as Chemical Biological Radioactive and Nuclear incidents as well as search teams and public order unit work. 

The main body of members will be in uniform maintaining a presence on roadways and the beach around Doonbeg. Such is the volume needed that gardaí temporarily assigned to plain clothes duties, known as Buckshee in the Job, will be returned to uniform duties.

The Taoiseach Micheál Martin has sought to calm some nerves around the capability of the garda organisation to secure events. 

 “I spoke to the Commissioner on Thursday evening, and he was, first of all, very strong and confident in terms of the capacity of An Garda Síochána to meet the challenges that lie ahead.

“This is an exceptionally busy year for An Garda Síochána, with the Presidency of the European Union, the visit of President Trump, and we do have the capacities to manage this and to do it properly.

“Resources, and very significant resources, have been allocated in that regard, and so I’m confident of that,” he said.