Anti-war activists have staged a protest at Shannon Airport this afternoon demanding an immediate halt to the transport of U.S. weapons bound for Israel through Irish airports.
Around 30 protestors entered the departures hall at the airport carrying banners and chanting. A further group gathered at a roundabout at the entrance to the airport where both sets of protestors joined up later.
They’re demanding that Ministers Martin, Ryan and Chambers “take immediate action to prevent Ireland’s complicity in Israel’s genocidal campaign against the Palestinians, by refusing exemptions for U.S. planes transporting weapons through Irish airports.”
Airport Police officers responded to the protest while Gardaí were also alerted and attended at the airport. The protest was staged close to the check-in desks and the escalator to the security clearance area and departures lounge.
A spokesperson for the protest group said: “The U.S. military uses Shannon Airport as a stopover for civilian flights transporting troops and weapons for operations elsewhere. Under Irish law airlines chartered by the U.S. military must receive an exemption from the Minister of Transport allowing them to transport weapons through our airports.”
“Recent reports reveal that 1,185 flights were granted permission to land or fly through Irish airspace in 2023, with a sharp increase since the start of Israel’s latest assault on Gaza. 258 civilian aircraft carrying weapons were allowed to use Shannon Airport and 17 at other airports in the same period.”
Dublin For Gaza spokesperson Jordy Smith said: “Our action coincides with the planned launch date of Israel’s ground invasion of Rafah, and a catastrophic new phase of its genocidal slaughter, perversely chosen to mark the start of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. But we have also chosen this date to resonate with the monthly Shannon Watch Peace Vigil, and to honour the decades-long struggle of local activists against the stain of U.S. militarism in Ireland.”
Spokesperson Rosi Leonard added: “The Irish Government has a clear choice: complicity or solidarity. Their failure to stop U.S. killing machines passing through Shannon has made Ireland complicit in Israel’s genocide. The people of Ireland refuse to be conscripted into complicity by politicians who’ll happily travel to Washington bearing gifts of kitsch whilst tens of thousands are murdered by U.S. bombs.
Like millions of people around the world, we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and call on the Irish Government to take action to achieve an immediate and permanent ceasefire and an end to the colonial occupation of Palestine.”