500 signatures reached
To: Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Simon Coveney
Stop U.S. Military use of Shannon Airport
Stop granting permission for U.S. military and military contracted aircraft, including troop carriers, to land in Shannon Airport. As a supposedly neutral country, we are actively supporting war by allowing these warplanes to land in Ireland while carrying troops, weapons, and potentially prisoners.
Why is this important?
The erosion of Irish neutrality is inextricably linked to the daily use of Shannon Airport by the U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. military, Garda policing arrangements at the airport, the use of the Defence Forces to provide additional security for the transiting warplanes.
More info: https://shannonwatch.org.
We demand an end to the U.S. Military use of Shannon Airport.