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24 January 2010
A total of 1276 civilian flights were granted
permits to carry weapons and munitions of war through Ireland
in 2009. The vast majority of these were from American civil
airlines, chartered by the US military, and involved flights
to or from the United States. Almost all landed at Shannon
Airport.
This information was supplied by the Minister for Transport
in response to a question from Labour Party TD Michael D.
Higgins. The Minister did not say where the weapons were
destined for, stating that "in general flight
applications requesting permission to carry
munitions identify the airports immediately preceding and
following the aircraft’s arrival in Shannon", and that
the final destination of these flights would not necessarily
be known by his Department. This is surprising, as flight
plan must be filed for all civil and military flights across
international borders.
The Minister said that approximately 90% of the flights
that requested permission to carry weapons or munitions were
for the personal weapons of troops that are "safely
stowed". The remaining 10% - in other words over
120 aircraft - were allowed to take other military equipment
through Ireland. The Minister did not say how many of these
landed at Shannon or how many overflew the country.
The Department of Transport refused a further 30
requests to carry weapons or munitions through Ireland.
The Minister did not reveal who these requests were made
by, or why they were refused.
Shannonwatch is gravely concerned that there are over 3
flights a day taking lethal weapons and other munitions
through Shannon airport. Not only are the weapons being
used to cause civilian deaths and suffering in Iraq and
Afghanistan; they also present a grave risk to the safety
of people working or visiting the airport. Shannon
Airport was designed to operate as a civilian airport, not the
military air base it has now become.
Despite several requests from Shannonwatch activists to
Gardai at Shannon in the past number of years, they repeatedly
claim not to know anything about the cargo of US military
contracted planes. Nonetheless they refuse to inspect the
contents of these planes. It would appear therefore that US
military contracted flights go through Shannon without any
scrutiny for breaches of safety
regulations, or for illegal and indiscriminate
weapons such as cluster bombs, white phosphorus and
depleted uranium.
Any civilian aircraft seeking to land or overfly the State
requires the permission of the Minister for Transport to carry
military weapons or munitions. Permission must also be sought
and granted for all military aircraft flying through sovereign
Irish airspace, regardless of whether or not they are landing
in the country.
Over 1200 planes like this one photographed at
Shannon were granted permits to
transport weapons of war through Ireland in
2009
For further information contact Shannonwatch on 087
8225087. |