Gardaí and members of the US Secret Service descended on Leinster House on Monday ahead of a potential address from US President Joe Biden next week, the Irish Mirror understands.
While a joint address to TDs and Senators has yet to be formally confirmed, it is now expected that an address is more likely than not to take place.
Mr Biden will travel to Ireland for a five-day visit next week that will start next Tuesday in Belfast.
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He will travel to Dublin on Wednesday and is expected to visit his ancestral homes in Mayo and Louth during the course of the week. He will travel back to the US on Saturday.
Several sources told the Irish Mirror that a large number of gardaí and members of the American Secret Service were on the Leinster House complex on Monday.
It is understood that at one stage, one Secret Service Officer and five to six gardaí were inspecting a bridge that connects Leinster House to Government Buildings.
A spokesperson for the Houses of the Oireachtas told the Irish Mirror last week there were “no plans at the moment” for President Biden to address the Dáil.
They confirmed on Monday that there was “no update” on these remarks.
However, one source said that it is now nearly guaranteed that Mr Biden will address the Dáil next Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.
Members of the Dáil Business Committee, which organises the Dáil schedule, gave Ceann Comhairle Seán Ó Fearghaíl permission last week to organise a speech in the Dáil chamber in their absence while TDs are on a two-week break.
One member of the committee told The Mirror that the Ceann Comhairle indicated that it was an “outside possibility” and that it might be “unlikely”.
The TD said that they would expect members of the Oireachtas to cut their holidays short and descend on Leinster House if Mr Biden was to address the Dáil.
They joked that the only people who would not be in attendance would be the people who had planned trips abroad during the Easter Break.
However, one senior Government source stressed to the Irish Mirror that not all locations scoped out by the Secret Service would end up on the final itinerary, which is understood to still be “up in the air” and “not yet finalised”.
The inspection of Leinster House comes ahead of the arrival of hundreds of Secret Service agents next week.
It is understood that over 1,000 personnel from the Secret Service, An Garda Siochana and the Defence Forces, including army and air support, will protect President Biden across Ireland, while another 1,000 will be on standby off the country’s coast and in Britain.
Sources told the Irish Mirror that some 250 fully-armed Secret Service will cover the 80-year-old’s visit.
This is one-third of the force's 900 agents and nearly a third of them will be in Ireland.
They added: “As many as 400 to 500 gardai will be on patrol and up to 200 of them will be armed.”
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