SHANNONWATCH, the group protesting the US use of Shannon Airport for military flights, has called on the Irish government to “categorically condemn the illegal invasion of Venezuela, and the kidnapping of the country’s President, Nicolás Maduro, and his wife Cilia Flores, by the US administration”.
In a statement following the developments in Venezuela this week, the group says that given “this flagrant disregard for international laws and norms, we also call for an immediate suspension of the use of Shannon Airport as a transit hub for US troops and their weapons”.
A spokesperson said the events this week mark “a dangerous escalation in the use of military power by the US. It ignores sovereign territorial rights and comes less than a week after Donald Trump threatened military strikes against another country, Iran. It also follows the brutal murder of over 100 people on boats off the Venezuelan coast.”
“In addition, the US has illegally imposed sanctions on Venezuela, resulting in tens of thousands of deaths. These have now been compounded by acts of war including the declaration of a no-fly zone and a naval blockade.”
The Shannonwatch group said that “Ireland cannot continue to pay lip service to the pursuit of peace and justice while providing ongoing material support to the US military”.
“Failure to condemn this unprovoked US military aggression is effectively giving a green light to Trump to invade and occupy any country he chooses,” the group added.
“Over the last 25 years, Shannon Airport has been used to facilitate illegal invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, and to support US military operations in most countries in the Middle East. Our records also show military and diplomatic flights through Shannon to Israel, making the Irish state complicit in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. This abuse of our so-called civilian airport is contrary to the will of the majority of Irish people.”