This US air force Hercules C130 warplane was at Shannon Airport tonight, July 2nd, being protected by a combination of a Garda security team, Shannon Airport security, and an Irish Defence Forces security team.

As usual its presence there is a clear breach of international laws on neutrality. Meanwhile our Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar, Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Coveney and of course Bono, are all in New York plugging Ireland's bid for a seat at the UN Security Council. They are mentioning a whole load of reasons why Ireland should get at seat at the UN Security Council, including the sacrifices made by the 87 members of the Irish Defence Forces who gave their lives on UN peacekeeping service. Yet there is no mention of Irish neutrality which has been one of the key reasons why the Irish Defence Forces have been successful as UN impartial and neutral peacekeepers. The silence on this word neutrality is deafening. Surely since our two main competitors for this UN position are NATO members Norway and Canada, who have far more influential supporters at the UN, it should be essential that Ireland should differentiate itself from the NATO warmongers by highlighting Irish neutrality.

It seems clear that Fine Gael are ashamed of Irish neutrality. However the Irish soldiers who died on UN peacekeeping duty were no doubt proud of it.

The registration of this US Air force plane is 01797 and it belongs to the US Air National Guard. It carries the very inappropriate name of St Joseph. St Joseph's mode of transport was a humble donkey, not a destructive war plane.

Perhaps our donkeys are in New York tonight.