Apache helicopter parts ‘likely to have been made here’

CRUCIAL components of Apache attack helicopters transported through Shannon Airport in February were likely to have been manufactured in Ireland, an Oireachtas committee heard yesterday.

The helicopters were “efficient killing machines”, Jim Loughran of Amnesty International Ireland told the cross-party Committee on Foreign Affairs.

This was because, unlike some other military helicopters, the Apache did not double up as an air ambulance or vehicle to airlift food supplies, Mr Loughran said. Its only purpose was to serve as a weapon, one which had been used by the Israeli Army to target militants in Gaza and the West Bank, attacks in which innocent Palestinians had been injured or killed.

It recently emerged that a cargo plane carrying US Apache helicopters for the Israeli Army landed in Shannon two months ago.

Mr Loughran said the hub of the Apache helicopter was made in Ireland. He was referring to the craft’s electronic transmission system, manufactured by a US-based firm, Data Device Corporation, which has facilities in Cork.

Amnesty wants a cessation order on such exports on the basis of the Apache’s use in “attacks on the civil population and attempted assassinations” in Palestine, Mr Loughran said. The Government should support the proposed Arms Trade Treaty, Mr Loughran said which is set to be discussed by the UN later this year.

“Amnesty would urge the Government to make a national statement of support for the treaty,” he said.

He criticised the Government’s failure to introduce promised legislation to control arms brokering here. Flows of weapons into Liberia had been responsible for the escalation of the conflict there, and some of the deals were traced back to a Dublin-registered firm.

“We face the almost absurd scenario that Irish soldiers acting as peacekeepers could come under fire from weapons which were brokered from Dublin,” Mr Loughran said.

Chairman of the committee, FF TD Michael Woods, said work was completed on a draft bill which would control arms brokering.

The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment would now consult with other departments and agencies before submitting the draft to Cabinet for approval. The department hopes to bring legislation to the Dáil in the autumn.