Cowen deplores start of war

The Minister for Foreign Affairs today said he “deeply regretted” that diplomatic and political efforts to avert war had proved unsuccessful.

Brian Cowen was speaking as the Government prepared to present a motion on war at the Dáil, which has been recalled from its traditional week-long St Patrick’s Day break.

“Of course we deplore the fact that we are now in a situation where military action is being taken,” Mr Cowen said.

“We recognise that within the Security Council there was a failure to act collectively, to be able to proceed with an agreed way forward.

“And we are stating clearly, consistent with our position set out back in October under Resolution 1441, that on that basis we can’t participate in relation to this military action.

“I think it is clear nobody welcomes the fact that military action is taking place.”

The Government last night agreed to permit the on-going use of Shannon Airport in the American military build-up for war in Iraq.

The approval for the United States to continue moving troops through the Co Clare airport is incorporated in the motion being debated at the Dáil today over a six-hour period.

The motion spells out Government regret that it proved impossible to get international unity before action was taken in Iraq.

The Dáil motion is certain to be resisted by the Opposition, who have signalled their reservations over the US use of Shannon. In addition, there have been concerns from some supporters of the coalition Government.

However last night Mr Ahern said that to withdraw a facility that had applied for more than 40 years would have been seen as “a hostile act“.

He also insisted: “This is not participating in the War, and that remains our position.”

Military-linked activity at Shannon 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 area – maintain that the difference now is that the US forces have been on their way to a war, rather than using it to transfer from one base to another.

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

Defenders of the Government’s stance of permitting the Americans to use Shannon have pointed to the strong transatlantic political links – as well as economic factors, with the US dimension contributing to the financial well-being 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 demonstrators damaged aircraft there.

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