Almost 2,000 US military flights stopped in Ireland over three years
Almost 2,000 US military aircraft and US civil flights with declared munitions of war on-board stopped at Irish airports over the last three years.
Data obtained and analysed by RTÉ News shows that only 0.1% of applications from civil aircraft carrying weapons to land or fly over Ireland were refused between 2022 and 2024.
This was due to the "nature of the total munitions of war proposed to be carried", according to the Department of Transport.
US civil aircraft apply for permission from the Department of Transport to carry troops and equipment across Irish airspace or land at airports, such as Shannon.
Charter and cargo carriers, including Omni Air International and Atlas Air which often operate under government and military contracts are the most commonly used.
Civil and military aircraft intending to carry munitions of war or weapons must apply for a special exemption from the Irish Government to land in Ireland or fly over Irish airspace.
Figures from the Department of Foreign Affairs shows that no US military aircraft was prevented from landing in Ireland over that three year period.
Hundreds of the civil aircraft flights were to and from common destinations such as Germany, Poland and Bulgaria - all key hubs for NATO operations.
Kuwait, a long-standing US military hub in the Middle East, was also regularly travelled to.
The data shows that between 2022 and 2024, a total of 978 US military flights landed at Irish airports, mostly in Shannon.
During the same period, more than 1,000 applications were made by US civil aircraft with munitions of war on board to land at Shannon Airport.
These applications were for what the department calls "tech stops" - brief landings to refuel and perform maintenance checks.
More than 1,700 applications were made for civil aircraft with weapons on board to fly over Irish airspace.
Calls have been made for inspections of US aircraft as these planes are not routinely searched or inspected by Irish authorities.
Professor of International Law at the University of Notre Dame, Mary Ellen O'Connell said Irish authorities should be "very clear" that it will not permit the United States to transport weapons bound for unlawful armed conflict through Ireland.
"Ireland should have complete control over planes that land at Shannon that are carrying munitions… anything destined for a war zone.
"It's important for Ireland which stands tall on so many of these issues of international law to take seriously this principle not to assist a country in any way that's using military force unlawfully," she said.
A majority of the munitions of war on board were "unloaded personal issued weapons of troops, with no ammunition," according to Department of Transport logs.
One flight in 2022 had "ammunition only" listed in the description of munitions of war.
Two of the 543 applications made to fly over Ireland last year with munitions of war were refused.
On 8 July, an Omni Air International flight travelling from Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport in Hungary to Pittsburgh International Airport in the US was prevented from flying over Irish air space.
Three weeks later, on 30 July, another aircraft from the same civilian airline was refused to fly over Irish territory from Pittsburgh International Airport in Pennsylvania to Hungary's Budapest Ferenc Liszt International Airport.
The Department of Transport told RTÉ News that they were refused "based on the nature of the total munitions of war proposed to be carried".
Regular use of Shannon Airport by the United States does not affect Ireland's policy of military neutrality, according to the Irish Government.
A spokesperson for the Department of Foreign Affairs said Ireland's policy of military neutrality is characterised by non-membership of military alliances and non-participation "in common or mutual defence arrangements".
A peace activist and contributor to Shannonwatch, a group which has monitored US activity at the airport for 20 years, said that he believes the high level of traffic shows that Shannon Airport is a de-facto military base for the United States.
Edward Horgan, who has spent two decades protesting the use of Shannon Airport by the US military, said now is the time for the United States to be forbidden from using the airport.
"I spent 22 years in the Irish Defence Forces, was heavily involved in logistics and logistics play a huge role in modern warfare.
"Shannon Airport is being used as a logistic hub for the US military. This is particularly important at the moment and particularly inappropriate with the genocide that is happening in Gaza," he said.
A retired US army officer who stopped at Shannon Airport via a civil aircraft following his deployment to Iraq in 2009 told RTÉ that even though he was surprised by the amount of US military and civilian flights to the Co Clare airport, he believes it is not a de-facto US military base.
"What would distinguish it from a military base if you had fighter jets on there. If you had routine military transport aircraft, if you had US air force facilities…like what we do in the Middle East, in Qatar for example or Kuwait," said former Lieutenant Colonel (Ret), Daniel L Davis.
"We have parts of the whole airfield that are fenced off and it's just US territory there, that's what I consider a base but this sounds more like a leasing agreement and an arrangement to use existing facilities," he added.
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