From Edward Horgan, Shannon Watch
Hello all, 
At Shannon airport yesterday 7th January, the car parks were more than half empty. The showers of hail, rain, and the wind seemed to epitomise a failed airport project. Over the years our Dublin based, and Dublin orientated governments have stripped the economic life out of Shannon airport in favour of Dublin airport, and used US military flights and up to three million US soldiers to massage the passenger figures using Shannon airport. I note that just before Christmas, Airport CEO, Neil Parkey, did not have his contract renewed – no reason given. Prior to coming to Shannon three years ago he had been very successful as Manager of Liverpool John Lennon Airport.
IMAGINE.
Yesterday, Shannon airport’s complicity in war crimes continues, as US warplane, a Hercules C130 number 16-5313 was being refuelled at 10.30 am, getting ready to take off, unsearched, unchecked, on its way to or from God knows where, having possibly helped to kill or terrorise God knows whom.
Photo below shows this plane on a previous stop over at Shannon on 4th November last. Photo curtesy of Flight Aware. (my camera battery was out of fuel, unlike the warplane)
Our more recent statistics show that at least 2205, yes that’s two thousand two hundred and five US warplanes were refuelled at Shannon airport between January 2009 and end December 2015. That’s an average of 316 US warplanes for each of these seven years.
These figures do not include Chartered Omni Air International planes carrying up to three hundred armed soldiers each, and of course these Omni Air troop carriers are also warplanes for as long as they are chartered to the US military. It likely that at least a similar number (and probably more) of these troop carrying warplanes were refuelled at Shannon over the same seven year period.
These figures do not include a far greater number of US warplanes that were granted permission by the Irish Government to overfly through Irish airspace during this period.
Hope to see as many of you as possible at Shannon this Sunday 10th Jan.
Its likely there will be no let up in US warplanes using Shannon airport in 2016, and we in the peace movement must make this a decisive year in our campaign to end US military use of Shannon airport, restore Irish neutrality, and more importantly, restore Ireland’s commitment to actively promoting international peace, justice and real democracy.
Edward Horgan