Independent TDs plan to table a motion in the new Dáil calling for a referendum to put neutrality in the Constitution and will put pressure on the new government to ban the US military using Shannon Airport.

A poll finding that most Irish people oppose the US using Shannon Airport for military purposes has fuelled calls for Taoiseach Enda Kenny to raise the issue with President Barack Obama.

Over three years ago I submitted a petition to the The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Public Service Oversight and Petitions on behalf of civil society NGO Shannonwatch, on the issue of US military and CIA use of Shannon airport. The committee issued its final report on St Bridget’s day 2016.

Anti-war activists from around the country are set to descend on Shannon today as the airport celebrates a milestone with a spectacular air display.

Two independent TDs who scaled a security fence at Shannon Airport and attempted to approach two military aircraft are due to appear in court on Wednesday.

The use of Shannon Airport by the United States and how it impacts on Ireland's neutrality will be at the forefront of discussions in Limerick this morning.

Deputy Mick Wallace said that he does not know if he will be charged or not after being arrested today at Shannon Airport.

Two TDs, understood to be Independent Deputies Mick Wallace and Clare Daly, have been arrested after trying to access US military aircraft at Shannon Airport.

A demonstration in solidarity with 79-year-old jailed peace activist Margaretta D'Arcy will take place in Shannon today.

Gardaí cannot inspect aircraft that land here if they are from a foreign state that enjoys sovereign immunity, Justice Minister Alan Shatter has said.

Tánaiste and Foreign Affairs Minister Eamon Gilmore has confirmed that a US aircraft landed at Shannon Airport armed with a ‘weapon’, in contravention of strict conditions for such landings in Ireland.

Security was tight around Shannon over the past two days as three US-built military transport planes destined for the new Iraqi Air Force spent two nights at the airport.

On behalf of the justice and peace organisation, Afri, I am revulsed at comments by the head of the Shannon Airport Authority, Rose Hynes, to an Oireachtas committee, as reported in the Irish Examiner.

Justice, Equality, and Defence Minister Alan Shatter has rejected claims that gardaí have been instructed not to search suspected rendition flights at Shannon Airport.

Military munitions were brought through Shannon Airport on almost 1,200 planes last year, Leo Varadkar, the transport minister, has confirmed.

A demonstration is being held in Shannon Airport this afternoon to protest at the use of the airport by the US military.

HUMAN rights groups have called on the Government to introduce measures to ensure Ireland can no longer be used for illegal rendition flights, after fresh evidence emerged that US authorities operated such missions through Shannon Airport over the past decade.

ANTI-WAR activists have slammed the Government for committing itself to an ongoing role in the “unjustified war being waged in Afghanistan”.

IN his letter headlined ‘Shannon stopover critics hide behind US security shelter’ (January 25), Jim Forde responds to the letter (January 18) from John Lannon of Shannonwatch who criticises what he believes is Ireland’s effective involvement in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and the compromise of its neutrality.

YOU gave many column inches to John Lannon of Shannonwatch to highlight his anti-American views on Iraq and Afghanistan (Letters, January 18).

RECENT Comments by Justice Minister Dermot Ahern (Irish Examiner, January 4) that the annual security bill at Shannon for US military traffic is justified shows scant regard for the lives or human rights of the people of Iraq and Afghanistan.

ON November 10 you published an article headlined ‘Netanyahu’s Shannon stopover sparks criticism’, concerning the brief touchdown by the Israeli prime minister.