Protest at Shannon as Sinn Féin commit to neutrality

As the Peace and Neutrality Alliance demonstrated at Shannon Airport at the weekend, the Sinn Féin spokesperson on International Affairs Aengus Ó Snodaigh said that Sinn Féin seeks to have neutrality enshrined in the Constitution, and that the party wants an immediate end to the use of Irish airports by US troops en route to Iraq or for illegal 'extraordinary rendition' flights. Ó Snodaigh said, 'All the political parties claim to support neutrality and the UN and to oppose global poverty and injustice. However, only Sinn Féin makes these core guiding principles of our international relations policy.'

In July 2002, the Irish government gave the US permission to use Shannon airport for military flights in its 'long campaign against terrorism'. Since then, hundreds of thousands of US troops have passed through the airport on their way to and from Iraq. RTE reported last year that 330,000 US troops had passed through Shannon in 2005 alone.

But as we run into the election the government's support for the US war is not popular. A survey commissioned by PANA in April this year showed that 58% of the Irish people opposed the use of Shannon Airport to transport US soldiers to and from Iraq, with only 19% in favour.

Aengus Ó Snodaigh further said, 'This State's military neutrality is under increasing pressure. The outgoing Fianna Fáil/PD Government has accelerated this process by violating its own stated policy of neutrality. It allowed Shannon Airport to be used to facilitate the illegal invasion of Iraq and the illegal programme of secret abduction and torture of prisoners. During the course of the last Dáil, Sinn Féin actively sought to enshrine neutrality in the Constitution and codify it in legislation. We will continue to pursue this objective in Government or in Opposition.'