Poll shows voters disapprove of US troops using Shannon

Irish voters strongly disapprove of the use of Shannon Airport by US troops with or without UN backing for military action in Iraq according to the results of the latest Irish Times/MRBI opinion poll.

The latest poll found some 54 per cent of voters disapproved of the Government's current policy of allowing planes carrying US soldiers and their weapons to stop at Shannon en route to the Gulf.

Just 36 per cent of voters said they approved of the policy while 10 per cent said they had no opinion.

In the event of the UN Security Council passing a new resolution backing military action in Iraq, 49 per cent of people still disapproved of the airport being used by US troops while 42 per cent said they would approve of its use under such circumstances.

If the US were to take military action on Iraq in the absence of UN backing, 68 per cent of voters said they would disapprove of allowing US troops to use Shannon while 21 per cent said they approved, 11 per cent said they did not know.

The latest poll was conducted on Monday and Tuesday among a national quota sample of 1,000 voters at 100 sampling points throughout all constituencies in the State.