Minister for Defence, Simon Coveney, has attempted to redefine Irish neutrality stating that “government policy is that it is settled in terms of the maintenance of the triple lock”, meaning “UN, Government and Dáil approval is needed before participating in international missions.”
In reaction to the comments, Cork Workers’ Party spokesman James Coughlan said, “Coveney’s definition of Irish neutrality is very narrow, referring only to the deployment of Irish forces overseas. How can a country be neutral when its major transatlantic airport was crawling with US troops and unknown amounts of weapons, ammunition and highly technical military equipment?”
Highlighting recent visits to Cork harbour by US guided missile Cruiser USS Anzio, a flotilla of eight or nine German warships, Coughlan added, “How can any country call itself neutral when NATO warships can enter its waters and tie up at its ports any time they liked?”.
Concerns over the militarisation of Shannon Airport were raised in relation to an airshow featuring NATO warplanes held on 12th July.
Shannonwatch spokesman John Lannon, said: “Shannonwatch has repeatedly asked for inspections of military planes, just as we did with CIA rendition planes, but the response by the Garda authorities is the same – no action is taken apart from the arrest of several peace activists.”
He added: “We can look at places like Iraq and Libya to see the appalling results of an increasingly militarised US foreign policy. These countries are in disarray from a security and political point of view thanks to the troops and equipment passing through Shannon. Since 2002, Shannon Airport has effectively been operating as a US military forward operating base, with the Gardaí and Irish defence forces providing on-the-ground protection for the US military.”
