Almost €200k spent on protecting US planes at Shannon Airport last year

The Government spent almost €200,000 last year basing soldiers at Shannon Airport to protect US air force planes travelling to and from war zones from attacks by protesters.

Department of Defence general secretary, Maurice Quinn, risked sparking fresh public anger over the use of the facility by US planes after confirming the situation at a cross-party meeting with politicians.

Speaking at the latest Dáil public accounts committee meeting as US president Donald Trump announced plans to ramp up “black operations” and openly approved of using torture on terrorism suspects, Mr Quinn said Ireland spent €181,669 to protect US planes at the airport in 2016 alone.