The Programme for Government produced by Fianna Fail, Fine Gael and the Green Party promises a lot that is encouraging, but on the issue of US military use of Shannon Airport - which the majority of Irish people oppose - it is disappointing.

The change of government provided an opportunity to end Irish complicity in the ongoing cycles of  war and occupation that have been responsible for the loss of millions of lives this century. The military industrial complex is also the single biggest polluter on the planet (see recent study from Brown University’s Costs of War project). The US. Department of Defense has a larger annual carbon footprint than most countries on earth, and with its global network of bases and logistics networks the US military is the single biggest emitter of carbon dioxide in the world outside of nation-states themselves¹.

The following letter from Shannonwatch member Edward Horgan was published in the Irish Times, Irish Examiner and Daily Mail. It sums up our position on Ireland's securing of a seat on the UN Security Council.

Our Irish diplomats are to be congratulated on the success of Ireland’s campaign for membership of the UN Security Council. It would have been a travesty if two more NATO countries had been elected in addition to the three NATO countries, US, UK and France who are permanent members of the Security Council. The primary role of the UN is to maintain international peace, yet those three permanent members have abused their powers of veto to usurp the role of the UN and wage wars of aggression with impunity since the end of the Cold War. These wars have caused the deaths of millions of people, including an estimated one million children, in Iraq, Serbia, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria, and the US, UK and France are supporting conflicts in Yemen, Palestine and elsewhere.

On Sunday June 14th we had a small peace vigil at Shannon Airport, in solidarity with victims of US violence everywhere. The airport continues to support that violence by allowing military planes to pass through on their way to and from war.

We also took a knee in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and all the American people targeted by racism and violence in their own country. The brutal killing of George Floyd has shown police brutality and extrajudicial killing at its worst; we support our brothers and sisters in the US and all around the world who demand an end to this and to all forms of racism.

This morning Shannonwatch were back at Shannon Airport to photograph two US Air Force Hercules C130J warplanes. They arrived from Ramstein US air base in Germany about 10am. One of them seemed to be undergoing some repairs and they took off again heading towards the USA about 12.30pm. Their registration numbers are 75876 and 86206.

The two warplanes arrived from over Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, most likely coming from Afghanistan.

Early morning, Tuesday June 9th at Shannon ...

At least three US war planes at the airport. At about 10.15 two US Air Force Hercules C130J arrived, flying in convoy from Ramstein US Air Base in Germany. There registration numbers were 11-5725 and 11-5727.

11-5727 was coming from Al-Asad Air Base in Iraq. 11-5725 was on its way from Kuwait.

The following is a letter to Irish media outlets from our friend, anti-war activist Tarak Kauff. Tarak spent most of a year in Ireland as a result of his non-violent action to inspect a US military plane at Shannon Airport. 

Dear Sir or Madam,

I appreciate Taoiseach Varadkar for speaking out on racism and on the abysmal lack of moral leadership in the U.S. According to the Irish Times, this is what he expressed: “We’ve also seen genuine revulsion at the heavy-handed response in some instances towards peaceful protesters and journalists. And we’ve witnessed the absence of moral leadership, or words of understanding, comfort or healing from whence they should have come.” 

Today at Shannon airport at least four Omni Air aircraft on contract to the US military either have landed or are likely to land and refuel. Another Omni Air aircraft is due to land at Dublin Airport. All this at a time when travel is restricted to Irish citizens. Are any of the crews or soldiers on these aircraft being allowed into the terminal buildings and if so are they being checked for Covid-19 and if not why not?

Since the start of May we've recorded 11 US troop flights through Shannon Airport. The number may be even higher, but by logging only the flights with the designated CMB call sign we've compiled the list below.

The Camber call sign (ICAO three letter prefix, CMB) has been used since 2010 by civil aircraft on US military transportation flights.

All the military contracted flights we've logged through Shannon over the last 10 days have been operated by Omni Air International. According to their own website they transport US and foreign military troops, military family members, government employees and natural and humanitarian disaster relief "to the destinations they are needed most, at the times they are needed most", and they do it "with unsurpassed responsiveness".

Joint Press Statement from Nine Anti-War Organisations in Ireland

Discussions on government formation are taking place in the wake of a demand by the electorate for a serious reshaping of priorities and policies. Issues of housing, education, climate change and of course health are to the fore. 

One other topic, so far absent from the debates, must finally and urgently be aired if democracy and sustainability are really to be achieved: the massive realignment of our defence and military policies over recent decades.

Shannon Airport continues to be used by US military today (May 7th). They don't need to use it, yet they do. With the airport closed each night from 10pm to 5am, and with US soldiers on board the troop carriers now not allowed into the airport terminal building, it imposes additional costs and inconveniences for them to land at Shannon instead of at UK or other NATO airports or air bases.