Petition Calling for End to US Military use of Shannon

  • Posted on: 11 September 2021
  • By: shannonwatch
Body: 

We've teamed up with Uplift to petition an Taoiseach Micheál Martin and teh Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney to Stop U.S. Military use of Shannon Airport.

The message is simple: stop granting permission for US military and military contracted aircraft, including troop carriers, to land in Shannon Airport.

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Please help us gather as many signatures as possible. Share the link: its https://my.uplift.ie/petitions/stop-u-s-military-use-of-shannon-airport

The erosion of Irish neutrality is inextricably linked to the daily use of Shannon Airport by the US military for almost two decades. It is effectively a forward operating base used to support their operations in the Middle East, with approximately three million US troops and their weapons, regular US Air Force/Navy planes, and CIA extraordinary rendition flights illegally passing through since 2002. Two Articles of the Irish Constitution have been repeatedly and consistently undermined through this misuse of a civilian airport

Article 28.3.1 says war shall not be declared and the State shall not participate in any war save with the assent of Dáil Éireann.

Article 29 affirms the State’s devotion to the ideal of peace and friendly co-operation amongst nations founded on international justice and morality, and its adherence to the principles of the peaceful settlement of international disputes by international arbitration or judicial determination.

Despite this, Shannon has provided direct support for ground offensives and bombing campaigns, and has been complicit in the deaths and displacement of millions of people. The U.S. Military use of Shannon Airport and Irish airspace also costs the Irish state in excess of €4 million euro a year. This is as a result of air traffic subsidies to the US military, Garda policing arrangements at the airport, the use of the Defence Forces to provide additional security for the transiting warplanes.