The U.S. Government monitors Ireland’s mosques amid concerns over alleged Islamic ‘extremists’ operating in Ireland, the latest leaked embassy cables have revealed.
 
According to the cables, closely monitoring Ireland’s Muslim population of around 40,000, is a priority for U.S. diplomats posted in Ireland. They frequently sent detailed records to  
Washington DC relating to suspected extremists and ‘radical’ Irish Muslims.
 
The dossiers also show detailed accounts relating to the leadership and  membership of Dublin’s four main mosques,
 
Former U.S. ambassador, Thomas Foley, told officials in Washington DC, that the Irish government was being complacent in their efforts to pursue alleged terrorists, the cables revealed.
The documents were revealed among almost 2,000 embassy cables, attained by the Irish Independent from Wikileaks.
 
The leaked cables revealed claims concerning Ireland’s largest mosque in Clonskeagh, Dublin, which is run by the Islamic Cultural Centre of Ireland (ICCI).
 
The claims include the following:
 
*Members of the ICCI mosque celebrated the kidnapping of Irish aid worker Margaret Hassan;
*Children at a school linked to the same mosque mourned the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qa'ida in Iraq;
*Some Irish Muslims felt the ICCI did not take a sufficiently strong stance against global extremist violence.
 
The latest Wikileak cables show that in recent years, the U.S. has become less concerned about the threat of an Islamic terrorist attack being launched in Ireland.
 
US Ambassador Dan Rooney told Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in August 2009 he believed “overall the Muslim community in Ireland is content and moderate”.