Teachers and health care workers trained to spot Irish and Islamist terror cadets

That’s according to a Government training script leaked by the controversial human rights group, CAGE.The ‘Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent (WRAP),’ document provides details of training, which is being carried out in line with the Home Office’s Prevent strategy, which is principally aimed at countering Islamist terrorism but also warns of the threat from violent Irish groups.

The facilitator script reveals public sector workers are being advised to look out for potential Irish radicals, even if they are not engaging in criminal activities.

“You’ll see from the menu we have case studies relating to the Far Right; and Al Qa’ida influenced - or AQ influenced terrorism,” the script reads.

“But we could also have case studies with ISIL; Animal Rights; Environmental; Northern Ireland related terrorism; anything that encourages violence to influence political change - all are relevant to Prevent. And today we don’t need to understand the ideologies or ideas that are promoted, more the way they work to hook in the vulnerable.”

Trainers are telling public servants that whilst terrorist attacks gain our attention they are the tip of an iceberg.

“These are all a very real threat to us and our communities as a whole. But so is the activity below the surface. A greater mass that works to support that tip. In terms of terrorism, it’s the less obvious, sometimes hidden activity that builds and builds, leading to the attack itself. That might be finding somewhere to target; getting weapons; raising funds. While some of this is criminal activity, the further down we travel, that might not be the case. Understand, you don’t have this iceberg - this mass of activity - unless you start by selecting or recruiting someone to carry out the attack.”