‘Ireland only loser if US military use of Shannon ends’

IRELAND and not the US would lose out if American soldiers were prevented from using Shannon Airport, the US ambassador James C Kenny said yesterday.

Mr Kenny said the US military could switch to dozens of other airports in Europe if they had to.

Mr Kenny stated: “Shannon Airport is a commercial arrangement that has been in place for decades. It’s a business arrangement that suits everyone. It is not by any means a political deal. There are dozens of airports in Europe that could do the job just as well, and we could easily use them if we had to.”

He said if US soldiers were denied access to Shannon, it would have absolutely no impact on their military activities in Iraq in support of the democratically elected government there, or any other military activities anywhere in the world.

Mr Kenny said: “What it would impact on is hundreds of jobs in the Limerick area, but it would have zero impact on military operations in Iraq.”

In an interview with the Limerick Leader, Mr Kenny said the US would never bring detainees through Irish airports or Irish airspace in violation of Ireland’s sovereignty.

Mr Kenny said: “This is a non-issue promoted by activists with a political agenda and there is no real evidence to support their claims.”

He said Iraq did not raise any neutrality issues.

Mr Kenny said: “American and other multinational forces are in Iraq with the agreement and approval of both the legitimate government of Iraq and the UN.

“We are not at war with Iraq or with Afghanistan. We are helping those governments to fight terrorism and insurgency. There are no state-to-state conflicts in either theatre. Thus, there is no legal issue around the concept of neutrality.”

He said that during the Vietnam War, when the US clearly was at war with another country, Ireland was able to allow US troops to transit Shannon Airport without violating its neutrality.

Mr Kenny said anti-American war protestors did not reflect the attitudes of most Irish people.

He said: “As is so often the case with such activists, a small unelected group of ideologues claims to speak for the people, with the result that a group of five or 10 protestors or a couple of guys unrolling a sign purport to ‘speak for the people of Ireland’.

“I do not find their attitudes to be supported by most Irish so I do not think the Irish overall are by any means anti-American.”