US plane landed at Shannon armed with weapon, admits Gilmore

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.

Mr Gilmore made the admission in response to a question from party colleague and Galway West TD Derek Nolan, and said the issue was raised at the “highest possible level” with the US authorities here.

Although Mr Nolan’s question didn’t specify any particular incident, he did ask Mr Gilmore if all military landings “complied with normal conditions”.