IN THE LINE-UP OF DUTY

BIDEN VISIT: MAJOR SECURITY OPERATION SWINGING INTO PLACE

- JOHN HAND

Plain clothes gardai to mingle with the crowds. Public will get chance to shake hands with Joe.

PLAIN clothes armed gardai will front cordoned-off areas where crowds gather to get a glimpse of Joe Biden in a bid to limit access to the US President.

The Irish Mirror can reveal that as part of the major security measures being put in place to ensure Mr Biden's safety, locations where punters can engage with him will be "front-filled" by officers.

Sources said US Secret Service agents will also be liaising with the detectives to ensure there is no threat to the President's safety as he shakes people's hands.

And because of their location, some of the gardai themselves will get the opportunity to greet the US President.

A source explained: "In these areas where crowds are behind barriers, a huge amount of armed gardai will be placed at the front of those.

"Now it's a discreet operation, so they will be in plain clothes but will have communication devices to remain in contact with their colleagues here and US agents brought over.

"And what they are doing is scanning around at people in their vicinity before and during the President's time in their particular location to identify any threat.