Peacekeeping and human rights group Shannonwatch have counted that an excess of two hundred US military aircraft and aircraft on contract to the US military have passed through Shannon airport and/ or Irish airspace since October 7th, 2024. The group have shared their accumulated flight records and tracking software with The University Times to confirm their findings.
Edward Horgan, a representative from the Shannonwatch group told The University Times that the group has observed via flight tracking software that over half of the U.S. military aircraft that have landed in Shannon Airport or been recorded in Irish airspace have been going to and from the Middle East.
Edward Horgan, who has worked as an international election observer and a lecturer on international relations and politics at the University of Limerick, told The University Times via email correspondence that on Monday, the 9th of September the “US Air Force Gulfstream 5 executive jet, registration number 18-1947, arrived at Shannon from Camp Springs air case near Washington. It took off again from Shannon at 07.47 am and flew directly to Tel Aviv, Israel”.
Horgan further stated that “Of the aircraft that we know landed in Israel, most are US diplomatic aircraft likely carrying senior US diplomatic personnel or senior UN [united nations] military officers. Many of the other aircraft are cargo type aircraft making deliveries to distribution points such as Kuwait, Bahrain, UA Emirates, Cyprus etc.”
Barry Sweeney from World Beyond War Ireland previously spoke to The University Times about cargo type aircraft stopping in Shannon airport, stating “These stopover flights are just going to distribution centres and then to Israel and other destinations like Cyprus, Crete, Sicily, or Kuwait. Then the Israeli army comes over and picks up the troops or the arms.”
In response to the US military aircraft’s continual use of Irish airspace and Shannon Airport, Shannonwatch and the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) presented a letter to An Garda Síochána that called on the state forces to inspect US military and military contracted aircraft at Shannon Airport.
The letter stated that no foreign military aircraft likely to be involved in the genocide in Gaza should be allowed to transit through Irish territory or airspace.
In a public statement about Ireland’s complicity in worldwide conflict, a Shannonwatch spokesperson said “Shannon has had over two decades of complicity in wars in the Middle East. Millions of people have been affected by those wars, and Ireland has abandoned its neutrality to support US warmongering. These days we can see exactly what US weapons are being used for in Gaza. It is brutal, and Ireland should not be facilitating it in any way.”
The spokesperson continued that “The United States has been the primary supporter of the Israeli government and its military forces in recent decades, and especially since October 2023. And over the last 11 months, hundreds of US military and military-contracted aircraft have passed through Shannon Airport or Irish airspace. Most of these aircraft have been going to and from the Middle East, and several have landed in Israel.”
Over the past four weeks, The Ditch has reported that Challenge Airlines has illegally brought 57 tonnes of munitions on eight flights which flew over Ireland from October 2023 to March 2024.
Barry Sweeney, a peace activist from World Beyond War, spoke to The University Times, describing the use of Shannon airport by the US military to assist Israel as “utterly reprehensible”. Echoing Sweeney’s statement, the Shannonwatch group condemned the Irish government at their latest rally on Sunday, September 8th, stating that “no actions have been taken to address the support being provided to Israel via Ireland”.
On September 9th, Sinn Féin TD Mairéad Farrell directed a parliamentary question at Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin asking if a US Navy Hercules KC130T aircraft was searched or investigated while at Shannon Airport.
In Martin’s reply, he stated that “foreign military aircraft which are given permission to land in Ireland are not subject to inspection in this regard. Sovereign immunity, a long-standing principle of customary international law, means that a state may not exercise its jurisdiction in respect to another state or its property, including state and military aircraft. This principle applies automatically to foreign State or military aircraft in the same way that it applies to Irish State or military aircraft abroad.”
The Ditch have been able to confirm the presence of munitions on aircraft that passes through and lands in Ireland by investigating records from European countries where the aircraft have stopovers.
In 2003 a similar public uproar was caused when the Irish government allowed the US military to bring weapons to Iraq through Shannon airport.
