UK police will travel to Dublin this weekend to assist Gardaí amid Ireland’s match against England on Saturday. 

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris confirmed police will be in Dublin ahead of the Nations League match on Saturday. 

The Republic of Ireland will take on England at the Aviva Stadium at 5pm. 

Mr Harris explained the police will be in Gardaí control rooms and will not do any significant policing. 

“They have no policing powers – in effect, they are there to observe, assist us and indeed then if we have to deal with disorder, they may be able to assist us. 

“They will be in our control rooms and if necessary then we can also deploy them with our public order units.”

UK police car

He noted that some English fans previously were handed football banning orders preventing them from travelling abroad. 

“There is a scheme in England where some fans are banned from international travel and obviously travelling to Dublin – even though it is within the common travel area – would still be a breach of that sort of ban,” she said. 

“That would be up to them to gather evidence on and pursue in their own jurisdiction."

Police at Ireland vs England

Ireland last played England in November 2020 when it was defeated by three goals to nil. 

The two football teams have played against each other 16 times since 1946, with England having the most wins. 

England has defeated Ireland six times, while they drew eight times and Ireland won twice. 

People travelling to the Aviva on Saturday are advised to use public transport “as much as possible” by Gardaí. 

Gardaí also warned that “illegally or improperly parked vehicles have the potential to cause traffic disruption and obstruction to emergency vehicles”. 

The match also coincides with a visit from UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. 

He indicated that he would visit Ireland at the time of the match when Taoiseach Simon Harris visited the UK earlier this summer. 

Additional reporting by Joleen Murphy.