Fury as 19 US planes land arms in Shannon

NINETEEN civilian American aircraft have transported weapons through Shannon Airport in the past week alone.

Last night, the Department of Transport confirmed there had been a sharp increase in the number of applications for approval to carry weapons by American airlines contracted to the US armed forces.

The department said since the start of the year 26 orders had been granted all but seven in the past week.

Opposition parties in the Dáil have stepped up their opposition to civilian American aircraft applying for permission to carry munitions while using Shannon Airport.

And Green Party chairman Deputy John Gormley last night crossed swords with the President of the European Parliament, Pat Cox, for voicing his support of the Shannon stopover.

"There is no justification for this stopover, but Mr Cox has implied that we have UN obligations. Surely Mr Cox knows other neutral and unaligned states are not assisting the US war effort in this way," he added.

Labour Party TD Roisín Shortall said the latest Shannon figures amounted to further evidence suggesting the public was not being told the truth about the extent of the facilities now being offered to the US as part of its build-up for war on Iraq.

"The Government has an obligation to ensure the law is upheld. It is now clear there is a need for a rigorous system of inspection and verification to ensure that aircraft given permission to land at Shannon are not breaching our laws," she said.

Sinn Féin said the Shannon figures highlighted a flagrant breaching of Ireland's policy of military neutrality.

The Dáil will get its first chance to vote on the use of Shannon flights to the Mideast later today when a private members' motion is put to the floor of Leinster House.

The independent TDs' motion calls on the Government to immediately withdraw all landing and refuelling facilities in Shannon for US military planes and other aircraft carrying US military personnel, arms or munitions that may be used in a war in Iraq.

The motion is jointly drafted by TDs Tony Gregory and Joe Higgins, and supported by TDs Seamus Healy, Jerry Cowley and Finian McGrath.