Pro-Palestine protestors are staging an occupation at Shannon Airport, claiming US weapons being sent to Israel travel through the airport.
Dublin for Gaza and Action for Palestine Ireland are occupying the departures hall of Shannon Airport and “demanding an immediate halt to the transport of US weapons bound for Israel through Irish airports”.
In a joint statement, the protestors said they demand “Ministers [Micheál] Martin, [Eamon] Ryan and [Jack] Chambers take immediate action to prevent Ireland’s complicity in Israel's genocidal campaign against the Palestinians, by refusing exemptions for US planes transporting weapons through Irish airports”.
“The US military uses Shannon Airport as a stopover for civilian flights transporting troops and weapons for operations elsewhere,” it said.
“Under Irish law airlines chartered by the US military must receive an exemption from the Minister of Transport allowing them to transport weapons through our airports.”
According to recent reports, there were 1,185 applications for permission to fly weapons through Irish airspace or land at Irish airports.
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Protestors claimed in December 2023, at least three US Airforce planes returning from Israel landed in Shannon Airport.
“The Government denies that any US weapons bound for Israel are passing through Irish airports” protestors said in a statement.
“Yet, in September last year Minister Chambers admitted in the Dáil that ‘there is no record of an inspection of a civil aircraft having been carried out pursuant to [the Carriage of Munitions of War] Orders’.”
Weapons in Shannon Airport
Dublin for Gaza spokesperson Jordy Smith said Shannon Airport cannot guarantee war planes landing in Shannon carry no weapons of war going to Israel.
“Are inspections being carried out now to determine no weapons bound for Israel are passing through our airspace?” they said.
“The Government's denial of munitions travelling through Irish Airspace is clearly a lie of omission.”
Protestors said “unchecked use of Irish airspace by Israel's principle military backer, the United States, makes Ireland complicit in the genocide of Palestinians”.
“The provisional measures issued by the International Court of Justice in January confirmed that all state parties to the Convention, including Ireland, are obliged to act in whatever way they can to stop the genocide in Gaza.”
The Department of Transport has been contacted for comment.
