The man who masterminded Perthshire’s hosting of the G8 summit in 2005 has been playing a key role in Northern Ireland’s preparations for the 2013 event.
World leaders will gather at the Lough Erne golf resort in County Fermanagh for two days on June 17 and 18.
The event requires meticulous planning and a massive security effort with the announcement last week that an extra 3,600 UK police officers will be flown into the country for the talks.
It will be one of the biggest policing operations ever undertaken in Northern Ireland and every effort is being made to ensure that the country hosts “the most successful G8 summit in history”.
To ensure that goal becomes a reality, leaders have turned to former Perth and Kinross Council depute chief executive Jim Irons, who led the organisation of the G8 the last time it came to the UK.
Mr Irons has made a number of visits to Enniskillen to liaise with the multi-agency G8 planning group, which includes police and fire forces, together with Fermanagh District Council.
A spokesman for Perth and Kinross Council told The Courier: “The council approached us in a bid to tap into our experiences of the 2005 summit.
“As our former depute chief executive was the real expert, having led our planning for the Gleneagles event, we suggested that he would be the ideal person to speak to.
“During the visits, Mr Irons explained to the partners how Perth and Kinross Council set itself the task of working with the police and other agencies to ensure a safe and secure conference.
“He also illustrated how the local community was kept informed on a regular basis, in a bid to minimise disruption to local services.”
Mr Irons was also able to explain how the local authority went about negotiating with G8 Alternatives the protester umbrella group to ensure that all possible measures were taken to ensure peaceful protest.
Violence did break out during the 2005 event, which produced some iconic images including the sight of a Chinook helicopter disgorging teams of riot police into the heart of the action as protesters punched a hole in the “ring of steel” security fence.
Much of the remainder of the event passed without significant incident, however, and leaders have welcomed the arrival of the summit in Northern Ireland and there has been a largely positive response to hosting the event from within the community.
Politicians in the Northern Ireland Assembly are hopeful that the summit will go off without a hitch, despite warnings that large-scale protests are planned.
Nonetheless, it is estimated that the security effort in place to ensure that leaders meet without disruption could cost upwards of £30 million.
A spokeswoman for Fermanagh District Council said the region was looking forward to a hugely-successful G8 summit next month.
“Jim addressed members of Fermanagh District Council and a diverse group of public sector representatives from a range of public bodies tasked with maintaining, as far as possible, business and service continuity during the run-up to and during the 2013 G8 Summit,” she said.
“He shared lessons learned from the Scottish experience of 2005 and gave a presentation to members of Fermanagh District Council and 45 public sector members of the Fermanagh Delivery Group.
“Jim’s presentation was well received and all agreed that their plans could be enhanced, taking consideration of his experience and his account of the measures taken in preparation for the Gleneagles summit.
“It was evident that the objectives of local agencies for both summits were identical and Jim’s presentation provided comfort that the planning process in Fermanagh was very much on track.”