In the midst of ongoing protests around the country, we held our monthly protest in opposition to the US military's us of Shannon airport today. The nationwide protests have been mostly about rising fuel prices, which are inextricably linked to the illegal US/Israeli war on Iran. More generally the impact of fuel prices on all our lives has a lot to do with the ongoing instability caused by war and the over-reliance on fossil fuels.

On March 13th, the Center for Strategic and International Studies estimated that the economic cost to the US of the illegal war on Iran was running at $16.5 billion. And that was only after 12 days. In 2025, the Costs of War project at Brown University reported that from 2001 to 2019, the US spent over $2 trillion on the war in Afghanistan, and from 2003 to 2023 it spent and obligated over $2.89 trillion on the wars in Iraq and Syria.

These are all wars that Ireland supported by making Shannon Airport available to the US military since 2001.

Each of the Irish governments that approved US military flights through Shannon since 2001 were lead by either Fianna Fail or Fine Gael. Over those years they have also imposed austerity policies that led to increased poverty, reduced access to healthcare, caused a housing crisis, and left over 17,000 people homeless. At the same time, US military and military contracted planes through Shannon and Irish airspace have cost the state millions of euro in waived air traffic charges and security measures.

However, the real cost of war is to human life in the regions it is being waged. The suffering goes beyond direct deaths, with massive civilian casualties, and it involves widespread displacement and long-term psychological trauma.

War destroy livelihoods, infrastructure, and health systems, causing indirect deaths through starvation and disease. The impact on ordinary people spans generations, with people needing to escape and seek protection elsewhere, including Ireland.

And yet, the Irish government allows the US military to travel through Shannon, in support of their global warfare.

The protests we've seen across Ireland this week are understandably focused on people's immediate concerns and relate to the struggles they have making ends meet. But the inequalities faced in Ireland are inseparable from the global inequalities that lead to widespread suffering and death, crimes against humanity, and in the case of Palestinians, genocide. 

If the Irish government can be forced into a U-turn on fuel price subsidies, it can be forced to end the US military use of Shannon. And if (when) that's happens, it will send a strong message to the world that Ireland will not support profiteering from the suffering of others. So we encourage everyone not to lose sight of the importance of global justice, to ensure Ireland plays a part as an actively neutral country, and to get the US military out of Shannon.