In March, the Irish media were entranced by the story of Colleen LaRose from Pennsylvania, who on the net under the alias Jihad Jane had allegedly recruited several Irish-based Muslims to assist in murdering Lars Vilks, a Swedish cartoonist who had sketched Muhammad as a roundabout dog (a form of street installation). The seven arrested in Ireland included another convert, Jamie Paulin-Ramirez of Colorado, who was later released and charged in the US with conspiracy. 

Shia Imam Ali Abdullah Saleh, who had been warning of Sunni radicalism for years, gave "I-told-you-so" interviews about the increase in Ireland of the number of Muslims who resist integration and the rise of extremism and the indoctrination of Irish youth. The radical preachers operate largely in secret and, as in Britain, the majority of Muslims are mostly inhibited by loyalty or intimidated into silence. 

Consider all this against the background of a country where the economy has imploded and the Roman Catholic Church is mired in scandal. There is a spiritual craving in Ireland, some of which is being met by Christian evangelists, but there are plenty of Islamic evangelists at work on further radicalising young Irish Muslims. 

Qaradawi has called for the conquest of Rome and Liam Egan is carrying the standard. "As the long-awaited demise continues unabated," he told his readers, "it is upon us as Muslims to rise to the occasion and present Islam as the only religion worthy in the eyes of Allah. It would be a shame to miss such an opportunity to assert the rightful place of Islam in this land. It truly is time to put the green back in Eire."