Crowds gathered at Shannon Airport on Sunday to protest against its use by US military planes and the alleged shipping through Irish airspace of weapons to be used by Israel in Gaza.
Several Palestine solidarity groups are behind the protest, which organisers say highlights the transporting of bombs and other weapons for Israel to be “used to commit genocide in Gaza and the West Bank and war crimes in Lebanon”.
It follows a protest at Shannon Airport in October.
Rosi Leonard, of the Dublin for Gaza group, said: “Spain recently refused docking to US warships bound for Israel. Why is the Irish government refusing to do the same for planes carrying weapons for Israel during a genocide against Palestinians?”
Cairde Palestine Belfast’s Stephen Loughran said: “I am sick and tired of the Irish government’s refusal to hear our calls to end Ireland’s complicity in the slaughter of men, women, and children in Gaza.”
The protesting groups said they “regret any inconvenience caused to passengers, local residents, and airport staff, but believe these temporary disruptions are a necessary step towards urging policy changes”.
Also in attendance on Sunday was Cork comedian and activist Tadhg Hickey.
“With one hand the Irish government says it supports South Africa in its case accusing Israel of genocide, while with the other it lets weapons used by the army committing the genocide fly through our airports,” he said.
“After a year of denial and inaction from our government, we felt we have no choice but to bring Shannon to a standstill.”
The Republic’s Department of Foreign Affairs has previously said all military aircraft of other countries intending to fly over Irish airspace “are required, without exception, to obtain diplomatic clearance” and are subject to strict conditions “including that the aircraft is unarmed; that it carries no arms, ammunition, or explosives; that it does not engage in intelligence gathering; and that the flight in question does not form part of a military exercise or operation”.
The have said permission granted to foreign military or state aircraft to fly in Irish airspace “is fully compatible with Ireland’s policy of military neutrality” and said in regards to military aircraft that the only transit to Israel “has been of senior political and military officials from the U.S travelling for meetings in the region”.
