Missiles in Shannon

cork | anti-war / imperialism | news report

Wednesday September 03, 2003 10:04

by colm oconnor - Cork AntiWar Campaign

Hi all. Check out the great articles in todays Examiner. 4 in all on missiles passing through Shannon. Fair dues to all involved in the article. It would be a great time now for groups to issue press releases and write letters to the editors on the issue. We could call for full public disclosure of all documents relating to the use of Shannon by military flights..

Front page

03/09/03
Government allowed Shannon missile stopover

By Michael O’Farrell, Political Reporter
THE Government sanctioned the passage of a consignment of 28 Patriot missiles through Shannon Airport, official documents seen by the Irish Examiner reveal.
According to official Government documents, the hi-tech precision weapons designed to intercept incoming ballistic missiles were dispatched from Israel to the US in June 2001. The civilian cargo plane carrying the munitions landed in Shannon for a planned "technical stopover".

Each missile contained 44kg of high explosives and 498kg of rocket fuel. Despite the dangerous nature of the cargo, four separate Government departments raised no objections nor made any detailed comment.

Documents released to the defence teams of peace activists facing criminal charges over Shannon protests show the Departments of Defence, Justice and Foreign Affairs made no objections to the flight before permission was granted by the then Minister for Public Enterprise, Mary O'Rourke.

Details of the flight were confirmed last night by the Department of Transport, which has now taken over the role of licensing air traffic involving military troops and equipment. "If there are no objections, then the department will generally grant permission to land," a department spokesman said. The spokesman confirmed no objections had been raised.

However, a Government source revealed that up to a few dozen requests for landings of aircraft containing assorted armaments cargoes were sanctioned annually.

Government communications seen by the Irish Examiner also reveal permission was granted to two flights containing a possible cargo of cruise missiles during the Kosovo conflict in 1999, while another flight containing class A explosives was allowed land during Desert Storm in 1991.

Further documents reveal the Department of Public Enterprise knew that US troops in Shannon were accompanied by their personal weapons and ammunition as far back as five years ago.

Green party chairman John Gormley accused the Government of deliberately misleading the public. And Labour's Michael D Higgins said it confirmed that our policy of neutrality had been secretly ditched even before the row surrounding Shannon

Editorial
State putting our neutrality at grave risk

DEBATE on the status of Ireland’s neutrality is certain to be rekindled by today’s shock revelation that an Israeli request to transport 28 Patriot missiles to the United States through Shannon Airport was granted by the Coalition government.

Evidence also points to an American cargo of Cruise missiles labelled as rocket motors over-flying Ireland during the Kosovo war.

These disclosures go to the heart of bitter controversy surrounding the Government’s decision to permit the use of Shannon as a transit centre for American troops with weapons and ammunition destined for the war in Iraq which lacked the authority of UN sanction.

It

is worth noting that information about Shannon’s role in the transportation of Israeli missiles to be upgraded in the United States is not a figment of some anti-war activist’s imagination.

On the contrary, it emanates from official Government documents in the possession of the Irish Examiner. They were released during recent court cases taken against the State by opponents of the use of Shannon for military purposes.

In theory, strict rules govern the transportation of weapons and ammunition through this country but the latest revelations throw a searching spotlight on the ambivalence of successive administrations towards the concept of neutrality.

It is now known that as far back as 1988 the Government was aware that American troops transiting Shannon airport routinely carried arms and live ammunition with them.

However, it was only in January this year, following media revelations, that the Coalition conceded troops going to Iraq were breaching regulations by carrying personal weapons. Only then was an order issued compelling America to seek permission for that.

The question that arises is how much weaponry has been allowed to pass through Shannon in the course of several wars. Up to the Iraqi conflict, an average of a couple of dozen flights a year were permitted to carry arms over Ireland.

According to the official transport schedule supplied by Israel, each Patriot missile carried 44kg of high explosives and 498kg of rocket fuel. The transit request was made in April 2001 and the permit was granted in June of the same year. The over-flight of Cruise missiles occurred in 1999.

Understandably, the clearance process was complex, involving the departments of Defence, Foreign Affairs, Justice and the Irish Aviation Authority. Ultimately, the then Department of Public Enterprise under Mary O’Rourke gave the green light for the Patriot operation.

Apparently, none of the relevant departments nor the minister had any objection to the movement of these missiles through Ireland. Public concerns about the use of Shannon in the war on Iraq sparked the most heated debate on foreign policy since the foundation of the State. Despite lack of UN sanction for the war, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern was determined to allow US forces to land and refuel at Shannon Airport and to overfly Ireland. Government policy was based on the premiss that US planes had landed at Shannon during the Vietnam War and the Kosovo conflict.

The Taoiseach claimed that if landings were banned, Ireland “would be the only country in the free world that would be withdrawing something”.

Significantly, the marked increase in the flow of troops and weaponry through Ireland coincides with America’s self-appointed and highly dubious role as international sheriff. Implicitly, by lending its unquestioning support to US military policy, the Government is putting Ireland’s neutrality at grave risk.

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Comments (14 of 14)

`SHAME!!!!!!!

by Boss

Wed Sep 03, 2003 13:10

This is a friggin' national scandal. I repeat - NATIONAL SCANDAL!!!

Breach of Irish votes wishes, breach of constitution, breach of international law - direct aid to an imperial regime. A complete spit in the face. Arrogance and insult to all that is decent about our strange little society.

TIME FOR DIRECT ACTION!
TIME FOR ORGANISING!

Forget about Faslane, DSEI etc. for now and take on the challenges close to home. This is the biggest, baddest and most necessary challenge facing Irish people - not only the re-colonisation of Ireland but Ireland shamelessly signing up to the principles of the global bully, bomber and mass murderer.

This Info is TEN years old!!

by Lone gunman

Wed Sep 03, 2003 13:16

So the Isrealies wanted their missiles shipped back ten years ago.[Proably because the damn things couldn't hit anything anyway].Is this revelant in todays debate?Also would somone like to dig up how much stuff was shipped thru Shannon to Angola,Mozambique,Cuba,and all the other Red influenced third world countries by Aeroflot in the Eighties?There wasnt much whineing then about arms moving thru Shannon.If we are "neutral"[Hahaha] then both sides could move equipment without any problems.

LG it is three years old! 2001

by Joe Sheehan

Wed Sep 03, 2003 13:42

The government has lied to us about everything to do with Shannon. Lone Gunman it is 2001 thatinfo is from that makes it three (3) years old. Brian Cowen told us that there was no arms coming through Shannon, then only small arms in the hold, now we find out that Patriot Missiles were coming through and this info was known by the minister at the time. What are they not telling us? Depleted Uranium? Or Worse?

as an aside there is two C 130's at the airport at the moment.

Patriots

by Niamh

Wed Sep 03, 2003 15:31

So what? Patriots can only be used defensively anyway.

Use is not the point.

Wed Sep 03, 2003 16:00

Niamh, the point is that they were transported through Shannon Airpost, their standard use is not a factor. They are a very considerable weapon, a lot more than the personal weapons the government told us were only being brought through the airport.
They were allowed by our government to be on the territory of an Irish civilian airport, we are supposed to be a neutral country. Bertie and co have sold our neutrality for thirty pieces of silver.

What else came through?

by Brendan

Wed Sep 03, 2003 16:32

Why won't they say what was on all those other cargo planes thru shannon?
what the hell are they doing parking explosives at shannon anyway?

Excellent work

by John Cunningham - Galway Alliance Against War

Wed Sep 03, 2003 16:58

johnliamsheain at eircom dot net

Today's Examiner articles are excellent. The research is a credit to the reporter concerned, Michael O'Farrell, and to his sources in the anti-war movement and elsewhere. Incidentally, this is not the first time that O'Farrell has acted as a watch-dog on Irish neutrality, and this is not the first time that he has broken an important story on the subject.
Dublin journalists, wake up. In the meantime, buy de paper, visit de website or whatever

Russians

by Drbinoche

Thu Sep 04, 2003 00:13

I believe it may have already been brought up, does anybody if the Russian Aeroflot aircraft which landed during the 80s were carrying any forms of weapons. I mean I don't know and I am not saying they did, but it is feasible, so lets not immediately bark at Bertie because he sold us out, why don't we be a bit more realistic, Eamon de Valera sold out our Neutrality in 1940 when he started to detain German Airmen and not the British or US aircrew. I just think its weird, everyone seems to think our neutrality was only sold out recently, Hell its been sold out since before most of us were born!

Funny...Tho

Thu Sep 04, 2003 01:52

I thought the Gulf war was in 1991.And according to the De paper [Examiner] that the patriots were shipped then. So there fore the actual event was 10 years ago and the documents came out three years ago.WHY?? Are they being brought up now???
Driboniche makes the same valid point re the Russkies and Aeroflot.Can we find out that info for comparision.I would wager that you would find some MORE nastier stuff being shipped.Like possibly Sarin or Tabun nerve gas.It was rumoured that the stuff was shipped to the Cuban mecercenaries in Angola to comitt mass genocide against the South African supporters.
BTW the missiles are pretty safe in a transported state .You would be more worried about the plane crashing than the bangs of the missiles. BTW DU is rarely if ever shipped by air.Very heavy.It goes by ship,and there is plenty stockpiled in Europe for use.

Neutrality sold out

by David

Thu Sep 04, 2003 15:24

But the operative word is sold. I don't think our government would allow the russians fly weapons through shannon, what would happen if the americans found out?
We were not threatened with economic sanctions by the russians if we didn't allow them use ireland as a base, I doubt very much that our government felt any ideological sympathy with the russians either so if we did sell our souls back then would have been for a pittance
(i'm not saying it's ok to allow america use ireland as a base even though we had a lot to lose otherwise. we should have taken a stand in accordance with the will of much of the population)

Hyprocritical

by lone Gunman

Fri Sep 05, 2003 01:32

It was ok for the Russians to move equipment thru Shannon?but not for the Americans?What blatant hyprocricsy!Either you allow both super powers or none at all.But then you have to have a viable defence force to do so.What "ecnomic scantions" was put on Ireland about the use of Shannon by the US.?A known example would be good. Just because a couple of factories thought aloud about moving from Shannon,because of the idiots demoing and expressing anti US idelouges,which is a good enough reason for moving INMHO.Does not make it an ecnomic scantion.BTW 60% of the Irish pouplation after the conflict Were in FAVOUR of the US passing thru Shannon.Typical Irish when the shit is over we drop on the safe side of the fence.

economic sanctions

Fri Sep 05, 2003 12:33

come on, If ireland had not allowed America to use our airports we would have fallen on the wrong side of "either with us or against us" that Bush so arrogantly proclaimed. We would have been the another version of france, the 17th of march would be renamed freedom day and alcohol sales in America would plummet...
Even if none of that happened, the Irish government would be able to blame every job loss in this country for the next 50 years on our treason against our paid masters.

And i personally don't think it would have been right if we allowed russia transport weapons through Ireland. Though i'm not sure if i believe that they ever did.

Irish Neutrality

Fri Sep 05, 2003 16:59

Our neutrality is b.s., anyway. We have a big brother (the UK) and an even bigger brother to defend us (the US). Irish governments have been playing on that for years, while pretending otherwise. Get real, folks.

Good one Niamh

by Itchie Feet

Sat Sep 13, 2003 23:00

It's about time you all faced facts. What you do with those facts is up to you but you better understand that we as a country have no power. We could not ever be neutral, even if we wanted to. We are a puppet of larger countries. Just like most other "neutral" countries. Apart from Swizerland, clever bastards. They're neutral to ALL sides but are also prepared for war with any side, as the whole country is ready to take up arms against the foe.
What would we do if we became an unfriendly nation to the US or even the UK. We do not have the ability to protect ourselves from this kind of threat. So wise up guys. Seriously, I don't agree with these countries but until we become a smarter nation, WE HAVE NO SAY!!!!!

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Missiles in Shannon

Comments (14 of 14)