Who is watching Dublin's skies and seas during the EPC summit?

Detailed summary

With a large-scale security operation ongoing during the EPC summit, how are Dublin's skies and seas being secured?

Aircraft could be heard circling over Dublin throughout the morning and afternoon as European leaders gathered for the EPC summit.

Their movements offer a glimpse of the security operation extending beyond the barriers and road closures on the ground.

Public flight-tracking data from flight-radar website ADS-B Exchange reviewed by RTÉ showed at least six Air Corps and Garda aircraft have been airborne around Dublin today.

These included a Garda Air Support Unit helicopter and a small surveillance plane, a Twin Otter, flying repeated circuits over the city.

Two Irish Air Corps AW139 helicopters were seen on the radar circling over Dublin city and Dublin Bay with the call signs WOLF1 and WOLF2.

These are general utility aircraft which provide army support, air ambulance and military transport.

Further offshore, an Air Corps Airbus C295 maritime patrol aircraft, using the callsign KRAKEN, flew over the Irish Sea along the coast between Dublin and Wexford.

An Air Corps Pilatus PC-12 aircraft, whose roles include intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, was also tracked over Co Kildare, having departed from Casement Aerodrome at Baldonnel.

Those tracks establish where the aircraft were flying. They do not, on their own, establish each crew's assignment or provide a complete picture of the security operation.

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