THE MINISTER for Foreign Affairs has said Ireland "does not have a special exemption" from the sort of attacks that hit Paris on Friday night.

Charlie Flanagan says a "small number" of people within Ireland are being actively monitored for potential links to extremist and terrorist activity.

EU foreign ministers are meeting today in a pre-planned meeting which is now set to focus on the counter-terrorism effort across the EU.

However the minister stressed that there is no evidence of any immediate threat to Ireland: