Shannonwatch are appalled by reports that flights carrying munitions to Israel have been flying through Irish airspace since October 2023, and call for decisive action from the government to end Irish complicity in the supply of weapons being used to murder Palestinians.

Details published by The Ditch indicate that on at least six occasions Ireland’s weak oversight policies were breached by cargo airlines carrying detonators, missile safety and arming devices, explosives that propel rounds of ammunition from firearms, and other munitions of war.

“This represent a major failure by the Irish government to uphold our neutrality and to ensure we are not aiding and abetting the genocide in Gaza” said a Shannnonwatch spokesperson. “The reports highlight the poor level of oversight of military and military contracted flights coming through Irish airports and airspace. For too many years the government has avoided inspections of planes on the ground. And it has clearly not asked enough questions about the ones flying through our airspace.”

“The government must be able to guarantee that weapons parts are not covertly crossing Ireland on their way to a state that’s using them to kill thousands of innocent people. If the only way to do this is to deny transit to carriers that provided false information, then it should do that.”

The Department of Transport says no exemptions were granted in 2023 or 2024 to Challenge Airlines which is the airline operating the flights identified by The Ditch. Under the Air Navigation (Carriage of Munitions of War, Weapons and Dangerous Goods) Order, it is an indictable criminal offence for an air carrier to transport munitions over Irish sovereign airspace without an exemption from the Minister for Transport. “It is incumbent on the authorities and the government to act swiftly to stop the flow of weapons parts to Israel through Irish airspace. And the first step is to take action against the carriers that are violating Irish law.” said the Shannonwatch spokesperson.

Shannonwatch are also concerned about military and military contracted planes landing in Ireland. For the purpose of ensuring compliance with the Carriage of Munitions Order, authorised officers may search these but they do not do so.

 “Since the Irish authorities are not being told about munitions passing through Irish airspace, it is likely that they are also not being told about weapons on planes landing at Irish airports. We have been calling for inspections of US military aircraft at Shannon for many years without success. Countless requests to the Gardai at Shannon to do so have been rejected.

“Tainiste Micheal Martin has quite rightly said that it is time for the slaughter of Palestinians to end, and that the level of civilian deaths and casualties is unconscionable. We are therefore well past the time when we should rely on inspections of US military planes and contracted weapons carriers, or on the paperwork they provide. The government needs to withdraw permission for them to use our airports or airspace now.”

“Given the ongoing genocidal slaughter of Palestinisns in Gaza, and now in the West Bank, we must  stop the flow of weapons to Israel through Shannon and through Irish airspace.” said Shannonwatch.

Shannonwatch and the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign are holding a major national rally at Shannon at 2pm on Sunday September 8th to demand an end to the US military use of the airport.