"Irish Muslim leaders are failing our young people who are embracing fundamentalism. It is happening at a remarkable speed before our eyes. . . fascist fanaticism and radicalism is now rife amoung our young, " Satardien said. It was the sort of sermon the Muslim cleric hoped he would never have to give to his Irish faithful but feels the urgent need to do so now.

While Dr Satardien spoke, his listeners at the west Dublin mosque listened and said little in response. But the South Africanborn cleric believes the message he delivered is a critical wake-up call to the Islamic community in Ireland. In his sermon, the respected moderate warned of the dangers of what he described as "the increasingly split-personality" of young Irish Muslims. But Satardien has no illusions that one sermon will suffice. He is "a voice in the wilderness", he says.

"What is happening here is deeply worrying. We are seeing a dramatic change in the attitude and actions of young Muslims here, " Satardien told the Sunday Tribune this weekend, speaking from his Dublin home.

"It is not an overstatement to say that there is an ocean of extremism in Ireland now, " he insists.

The problems that Satardien has observed in recent months are deeply worrying. Young Irish Muslim males in increasing numbers are travelling to Pakistan and to the homelands of their parents and are being inculcated into extremist ideals. The parents of these young people also demonstrate a growing support for the teachings of fundamenalist values. Developments in continental Europe and the Middle East have deeply affected Irish Muslims. Tensions surrounding the arrests of elected Hamas leaders in Palestine, the pan-European publication of blasphemous cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed, the continued occupation of Iraq by mainly US and British soldiers and, more recently, the US-supported Israeli conflict with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon have all played a role in embittering Irish muslims. The radicalisation of young Irish Islamic believers has occurred apace in the last 12 months, since the 7/7 London bombings, in particular.

But Satardien says these events have not occurred in a vaccum. "The true crisis in the Irish Muslim community is the failure of guidance from parents and from leaders. There is a power-struggle in Ireland now among Imams to determine who are the most powerful leaders of the Muslim community in Ireland and the effects of this is that nobody has had the courage to reject the growing fundamentalism that is spreading through our young people, " Satardien said.

Many among the 26,000 Irish Muslim community now spend several months of the year living in the homeland of their parents, which Satardien says has created a dangerous division between their loyalties to Ireland, the country of their birth, and to the radical religious teachings professed in the Middle East.

'Y oung Muslims here are being torn between two cultures and are being drawn into support for terrorism, anti-Semitism and a hatred of western democracy.

It is inevitable that they will be dragged into the training regimes that occur in parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan. This is a horrifying consideration, " Satardien says. "There is a failure to integrate that is deeply insettling.

Ireland is an open country but the increasing rejection of democratic values by young Irish-born Muslims will see us end up like London, where rejection of the state and widespread misguidance of Islamic leaders has encouraged support for terrorism among that community."

Satardien insists there is an urgent need for the Irish government to introduce strict guidelines on foreign travel.

"Young people cannot go to foreign places where they are being brainwashed and where they are told to reject moderate Islam. Neither should the government allow in any further senior clerics from outside Ireland, from places like Egypt or Sudan. Many of these recent arrivals are preaching a message that is divisive and ultimately very dangerous to Ireland and its citizens, " Satardien says.

The Sunday Tribune has learned that the Supreme Muslim Council of Ireland provided a detailed briefing to officials in the Department of the Taoiseach as far back as September 2005 in relation to the increasing fanaticism of young muslims.

However, despite officials giving a commitment to re-convene further meetings with the moderate council by March of this year, no further contact has been made by Bertie Ahern's office. Satardien says that the Taoiseach's department has demonstrated "no interest" in the subject.

Last week's events will almost certainly further inflame the fundamentalist fire gripping Irish Muslim youths. On Friday morning, Satardien told his congregation at his weekly Dublin service that the alleged Heathrow airport bombers who were arrested just 24 hours before were cowards. He hopes that such messages will encourage listeners to reject what he describes as the "faceless terror merchants" who devise plots to commit murder and carnage in the UK, and perhaps one day in Ireland too.

After last week's arrest of 24 middle-class Muslims in relation to alleged plans to detonate bombs on as many as 10 aircraft, Satardien's words will do little to reduce the concern of many experts who consider the level of security at Irish airports to be insufficient.

"The security we have in Ireland is reactive, " says Irish aviation security expert, Gerry Byrne.

"We are always playing catchup. This [last week's plot] illustrates the danger of not thinking ahead, the way a terrorist would think of bringing a plane down."

Allied to this, he added, is the consideration that while Ireland considers itself to be neutral we nonetheless show tacit support for the allied occupation of Iraq by allowing warplanes to land at Shannon airport.

The possibility that terrorists are now adapting to the changing nature of international airport security procedures is deeply worrying in an Irish context. "All Irish airport security is geared towards luggage going into the hold [aircraft cargo section], " Byrne says. "You are searched when you pass through metal detectors and they search your hand baggage for sharp objects. But there is very little chemical detection going on with hand luggage, which is something that will ultimately overwhelm Irish airport security."

A spokesperson for the Dublin Airport Authority would not comment on whether the airport's police have a chemicaldetection capacity in their sniffer-dog unit. It is understood that the customs unit at the airport do not currently have such a facility and the acquisition of such a specially-trained dog could take several months.

There have been a number of high profile security breaches at Dublin Airport over recent years.

Most recently, a female member of the airport search unit was ordered to undergo re-training after a Department of Transport inspector passed unchecked through security screening.

The inspector notified airport authorities of a breach in security after he was allowed to pass into the departures area unchecked having flashed an official badge. Only gardai are permitted to pass unchecked through security.

A major breach in airport security occurred in April 2005 and resulted in a major review of security operations. The airport authorities were reprimanded after officials from the European Civil Aviation Conference and the Department of Transport successfully smuggled a replica bomb and knives through security.

The items were concealed in luggage and clothing. A knife was brought through security in the shoe of one official, which led to the airport forcing all passengers to remove their shoes as they passed through security. The removal of shoes is no longer mandatory but is conducted on a random basis.

According to leading security and terrorism experts, there are genuine concerns that Dublin airport could be used as a base from which to mount a terrorist attack against Britain. Dr Maura Conway, a specialist in political conflict and terrorism at Dublin City University, says that such fears should not be dismissed.

"Ireland would not be a top terror target but there is a concern that we could be used as a launch pad for attacks on Britain, " she says.

"If you look at our geography, we are a useful way to access the UK and US for airplanebased terror plots." Conway claims the opening of Shannon Airport to US troops has left Ireland vulnerable to such an attack.

While Ireland's role in the transportation of US troops to Iraq, and in the refuelling of planes involved in rendition flights, has left this country firmly associated with the US and UK in the minds of the terrorists, experts are divided as to whether groups linked to al-Qaeda would consider Ireland itself a worthwhile target.

"Al-Qaeda-affiliated organisations would be familiar with the Shannon issue but in terms of a specific terrorist atrocity, a small airport in the west of Ireland would not be top of their agenda, " Conway says. "Terrorists prefer targeting major urban centres. Cities like London, New York and Madrid are global cities and so striking there ensures not only fatalities but also massive and immediate media attention."

However, other experts have argued that Ireland could fall victim to terrorist attack.

John Henry, director of consultancy firm Specialist Security Services, says that although Ireland would not be considered as prime a target as major cities in the UK or US, it would be a mistake to believe the country is immune to terrorist atrocities.

"Ireland certainly faces a threat . . . there is no question about that, " he says. "The whole threat against the world at the moment is based on US and UK troop movements and so there has to have been a risk attached to allowing US troops through Shannon airport." Henry argues that domestic intelligence units are overly reliant on their US and UK counterparts and should be given an increased budget to counter the ongoing threat of terrorism. "We can't have this Irish mentality of 'we'll be alright', " he says.

Aside from airplane-related terrorist activity, Henry singles out foreign embassies as specific areas of risk and highlights the number of high-profile embassies located in the Ballsbridge area of Dublin as a source of concern.

The embassies of the United States, Turkey, Britain and Israel are all located within a short distance of each other in Dublin 4. The embassies are located on busy roads and close to hotels, restaurants and residential property, including guest accommodation. Henry describes the embassies as "among the softest of soft targets". The Sunday Tribune understands that several foreign states employ former Irish and French special-forces soldiers to operate as additional plain-clothed security in the vicinity of their Dublin embassies, where they pose as ordinary pedestrians.

The number of non-Irish nationals living illegally in Ireland is also a source of concern, says the risk management expert. Sources at the national immigration bureau admit there are hundreds of non-Irish nationals illegally resident in the state of whom the authorities have little or no knowledge.

Subsequent to the 7/7 London bombings it emerged that garda intelligence closely monitors several dozen Islamic extremists living here who are closely alligned to European terror cells, including men of Chechen and Middle Eastern origin.

Last November an Algerian man was convicted in Belfast of downloading instructions from the internet on how to blow-up passenger planes. Abbas Boutrab had lived in Dublin for over a year prior to his conviction. A court in Belfast ruled that Bourtrab had downloaded the information with the intent of carrying out terrorist activities. He had lived under several false passports.