Green protest at Shannon debate

The Government will review its position about the use of Shannon Airport by military aircraft if the US takes unilateral action against Iraq without UN sanction, the Taoiseach told the Dáil.

Mr Ahern defended the use of Shannon Airport, as the five Green Party TDs staged a protest by holding up a banner which stated "No to War".

Speaking before a debate on Iraq, the Taoiseach said the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, "is not opposed to the military build-up to try to get compliance" to UN resolutions and the Government gave "full and absolute" support to Mr Annan.

He said however that if the US took unilateral military action without a UN security council mandate, then "it is a new situation" and the Government would consult the Dáil and "will have to make a decision".

As he answered a question about the use of Shannon Airport in the event of an attack on Iraq, the Greens raised their banner and then walked out as Government and Fine Gael TDs accused the party of being "full of slogans" and "all talk and no action".

Amid the heckling and trading of insults across the floor of the House, the Leas Ceann Comhairle said the Greens were "completely out of order" and in blatant contravention of standing orders.

The party leader, Mr Trevor Sargent, led the TDs out of the Dáil, shouting that the Government had not upheld the Constitution. The Oireachtas secretariat declined to release a photograph of the protest because it offended the decorum and rules of the house. Later the Ceann Comhairle told the Dáil that he would bring the matter to the Committee on Procedure and Privileges because it was an act of gross misconduct and was demeaning to the house.

The Fine Gael leader, Mr Enda Kenny, who raised the issue, criticised the lack of a full debate and said that "we should know now" what the Cabinet's attitude would be if an invasion took place without UN sanction. "It will be too late, Taoiseach, when the first bombs fall on Baghdad to call the House back for such a debate."

Mr Ahern said however that he was "not going to try and predict" what "Saddam Hussein and his corrupt regime might do, whether I can work out what he has done with the 6,500 chemical bombs which he has, what he has done with all the equipment which has been logged on previous inspections which are now meetings" and a host of other issues. However, the Socialist TD, Mr Joe Higgins, accused the Taoiseach and Government "turning a blind eye" and allowing the US military to "flout persistently and with contempt" the regulations governing the transmission of weapons through Shannon.

In the past eight days, 19 aircraft with munitions sought permission while only one sought permission last year even though 532 passed through. He asked if they were only carrying "soggy lollipops".

Mr Ahern said that 30 aircraft were given permission to carry munitions last year. He reiterated that the Government was not in the habit of boarding and inspecting aircraft of friendly countries. US aircraft had been using Shannon for the past four decades. He was satisfied that the regulations were followed and that 40 per cent of Shannon's activity was refuelling.

"Asking the Taoiseach a question is like trying to play handball against a haystack. You hear a dull thud and the ball never comes back to you," Mr Higgins said.

Mr Ahern replied that he would answer the question this way. "If Saddam Hussein changes the regulations and complies with international law and the UN mandate, then we will not have this problem."

He said Mr Higgins was "totally against the United States in every situation and I am against Saddam Hussein".