Ahern grants US continued use of Shannon

The Government tonight agreed to allow the ongoing use of Shannon airport in the American military build-up for war in Iraq.

Dublin approval for the United States to continue moving troops through the County Clare airport is expected to be incorporated in a motion to be debated tomorrow by the Irish Parliament.

The Dail is being recalled specially from its traditional week-long break for St Patrick’s Day celebrations.

The motion will also spell out government regret that it proved impossible to get international unity ahead of action being taken in Iraq.

The terms of the Dail proposal were fixed at a meeting of Bertie Ahern’s cabinet which was delayed by the late arrival in Dublin of some ministers after fog at the city’s airport delayed their return from business overseas.

The parliamentary motion is certain to be resisted by all of the opposition parties who have signalled their reservations over the US use of Shannon. In addition concerns have also been expressed by some supporters of the coalition government.

Tonight Mr Ahern said to withdraw a facility that had applied for more than 40 years would have been seen “as a hostile act and it was not something I was prepared to do”.

He also insisted this was not participating in the war and that remained government position.

Up to today 33,400 US military personnel had passed through Shannon this year on a total of 326 flights. The build-up of American troops began last October and has been steadily growing over the months.

Military-linked activity at the west of Ireland airport has been a fact of life there for more than four decades but anti-war campaigners – who have staged a number of demonstrations in the locality – maintain that the difference now is that the US forces have been on their way to a war rather than using Shannon to transfer from one base to another.

They claim that the development has run counter to Ireland’s long-standing policy of military neutrality and is also illegal and immoral, making the Irish complicit in US actions against the citizens of Iraq.

Defenders of the government stance of allowing the Americans to use Shannon have pointed to strong transatlantic political links as well as economic factors with the US dimension contributing to the financial wellbeing of the region.

Last year the traffic was worth more than €9m to Shannon but earlier this year three American airlines that had been involved in troop transfer operations pulled out because of security fears after peace demonstrators damaged aircraft at Shannon.

Since then security at the airport has been intensified on the orders of Mr Ahern with Irish soldiers moving into the area to back up police patrols.

The anti-war movement picketed today’s cabinet meeting in the Dail.

Richard Boyd Barrett, the organisation’s chairman, claimed the government was “clearly endorsing the US war on Iraq” by allowing the American military into Shannon.

He declared: “We are protesting to let them know that they are going to feel the wrath of enormous protests and public anger if they persist in facilitating an unjust war in defiance of the will of the majority of people in this country.”

Anti-war activists also pledged a series of nationwide protests this weekend against the imminent attack on Iraq.

The demonstrations will be backed by opposition parties as well as trade unionists, students, artists, poets and musicians.

Also on the day after the first attack on Iraq anti-war groups have called for all workers to stop work for 10 minutes at 12 noon and later stage a demonstration outside the US Embassy in Dublin.