The synchronised nature of Friday night's attacks in Paris, which have formed part of a larger wave of violence across a number of cities since Thursday by Islamic State, have raised questions about how that level or organisation could have been achieved without the authorities becoming aware.  

Robert Fox, defence correspondent with the London Evening Standard and Declan Power, security and defence analyst, joined Shane Coleman on The Sunday Show to discuss how the French authorities have been dealing with the situation in the days since, and if anything could have been done to minimise the impact of the attacks.

Robert Fox noted that "the absence of CCTV is really quite striking", and that while the situation in London is far from ideal "by now, if the same thing had happened [in Britain] the newspapers and television would have been flooded with footage of this". 

Declan Power reinforced that concern, but further highlighted that "it's now emerging that there were at least two that were known to the authorities. This is a colossal lapse and certainly within the DGSI [Direction générale de la sécurité intérieure], the French internal intelligence directorate, there will be serious questions being asked". 

Early reports that there had been a Syrian passport found near one of the gunmen were also questioned by both Power and Fox, with the former saying "it's nearly too good to be true for the anti-refugee lobby, I do have a number of concerns about how this is panning out", and Fox describing it as "very convenient and very suspicious".

Fox further stated that "the serious end of the human rights constituency [...] are very, very concerned that this is being instrumentalised already politically" in order to make a case that terrorists are entering Europe during the migrant crisis. 

While there has been little coverage of it, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that ISIS are under pressure, and according to Power they have been looking at the geopolitical nature of their situation given that they've lost Sinjar and are finding themselves isolated and cut off.

He further added that hits weekend's attacks are attempts to get attention and legitimise themselves: "They are an expression of weakness, they don't have that many options and this has given them a position and a perception of strength. I'm sorry to say it but the French government have added to that by talking about declarations of war, they're giving them legitimacy a sense of statehood that they do not have and they do not deserve, and we have to be very careful here". 

That sense of weakness was something that Fox backed up, adding that ISIS was now at "a culminating point, they can't go much further". While the Paris attacks were shocking, they were "below the threshold of sophistication. It was Kalashnikovs, suicide vests and blast bombs. They are relatively simple things to operate, but very difficult things to arrange with only semi-trained people".

That weakness means that ISIS "may have to yield its place soon," added Fox. "It managed successfully to displace Al Qaeda as the number one in internet chatter, as the 'brand leader' for extreme jihadism", but there will be movement to another phase with different activities taking place elsewhere, in particular Algeria. 

For Power, ISIS have realised this weakening of their forces is happening, and "they have put some thought in bringing the battlefield to another location, to Europe itself where the opportunity presents itself to do so, knowing full well the psychological impact of it". 

How much they will be able to do in Europe as a result of Friday's attacks remains to be seen, but "the European community need to join up their thinking when it comes to intelligence and security".

Fox echoed that, saying "there will need to be pan-European cooperation on security and movement of people", but that sadly, that isn't likely to happen this time, adding there would need to be "another big attack before we do something about it". 

Finally, on the issue of what level of concern there should be in Ireland, Power said there can be no more glibness about this, and "Ireland's safety lies in enhanced partnership with its neighbours, primarily the UK". 

Power also further echoed the chances of another big attack being in the pipeline, saying "we have to go forward with the knowledge that that is what is in their playbook. If we do, then we have a likelihood of preventing it".

You can listen to the full discussion below: