306 planes in 4 months carried US war materials via Ireland

» John Hedges & Mark Moloney

Anti-war campaign group Shannonwatch has again called for a complete end to all US military use of Shannon Airport

LABOUR PARTY LEADER Eamon Gilmore’s government has given permission for 306 US aircraft to carry weapons, explosives or munitions to the Middle East through Irish airspace in the first four months of this year. More than three quarters of those aircraft actually landed at Shannon Airport.

As well as being Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore is Minister for Foreign Affairs.

The figures were revealed in a Dáil reply to a written question by Sinn Féin Foreign Affairs spokesperson Pádraig Mac Lochlainn TD by Fine Gael Transport Minister Leo Varadkar.

The same reply elicited the information that the number of US troops transiting through Shannon are significantly down but due to the Pentagon developing other routes rather than the Labour Party’s pre-election total opposition to the US war machine’s use of Shannon.

Anti-war campaign group Shannonwatch has again called for a complete end to all US military use of Shannon Airport:

“It is not enough that the US Army or CIA decides to stop using it for logistical reasons – the Irish Government must tell them to leave.”