Boycott of military flights on cards

KEY workers at Shannon Airport are considering a boycott of all planes carrying Gulf-bound US forces.

Any such action could halt the controversial use of the facilities at Shannon by American troops en route to the Middle East.

The move comes as it was reported senior workers witnessed weapons and ammunition being carried by US military flights and personnel on the Shannon stopover.

The US has denied it is breaking any regulations during the refuelling stopover. One airport worker, who declined to be named, said a number of staff were gathering support for a boycott.

The worker said: “I just feel very hypocritical about it all the time. I’m making my living partly by helping these people go to war. There is a feeling that this shouldn’t be happening among a good few of the workers here. The engines of the State are facilitating this. State agencies and departments are up to their necks in what’s going on.”

It is understood at least one union has been approached by members concerned over military stopovers at Shannon. It is unclear whether any refusal to service US military jets would be supported by unions.

SIPTU general secretary Joe Flynn said he was not aware of any approach to the union but that it was opposed to war in Iraq without a full UN mandate. “If the workers come to us with a request it would have to be discussed and any action would have to be examined very, very carefully,” he said.

Reports that the airport could become a terrorist target would be of concern to workers, he added.

The level of troops and equipment passing through Shannon looks set to increase as US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday ordered another 27,000 troops to head for the Gulf.

Yesterday afternoon, peace campaigners logged three military flights landing at Shannon and made an official complaint to gardaí asking them to investigate the presence of weapons on board the fights.

Peace activist and Green Party member Tim Hourigan said: “Hundreds of troops in desert fatigues got off. We asked the police to investigate the plane since there were probably weapons on board but they did nothing.”