Seanad Report: While the Government accepted the assurances given regularly by the US authorities that Irish airports had not been and were not being used for the unlawful transportation of prisoners, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dermot Ahern, intended to raise this issue once again with the US Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, when they met next week, the House was told by Noel Treacy, Foreign Affairs Minister of State.
He understood that a Swiss senator who was a member of the legal affairs committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe had prepared a preliminary report on issues related to the alleged holding of prisoners in secret sites in eastern Europe. "He has mentioned Shannon as one of a number of airports which 'might have been used by CIA aircraft in some capacity'.
The references to Shannon, however, do not appear to be any more precise or substantive than similar references on previous occasions. Nevertheless, I can assure the House that the Government would be happy to offer all possible assistance to any further investigation by the Council of Europe."
The Minister was moving a Government amendment to a motion in the names of four Independent members condemning the use of chemical agents by US forces in Iraq; expressing revulsion at the discovery of 170 apparent torture victims in a basement of the Iraqi interior ministry; and calling on the Government to review its policy on the use of Shannon airport and to make a credible statement about the use of the airport by a Gulf Stream Five jet.
The Government amendment condemned the indiscriminate use of violence against civilians and government officials in Iraq and noted that arrangements for the overflying and landing in Ireland of US military and civilian aircraft were wholly in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.
David Norris (Ind) said the misleading by the Americans of a British minister about the use of chemical weapons in Iraq raised the question as to why the Ministers for Transport and Foreign Affairs should believe the denials concerning a certain US aircraft which had been given by junior officials in the American embassy in Dublin.
It was a matter of shame that the Government, in spite of repeated questions from himself and others, had made no qualification on the use of Shannon airport for military traffic of all kinds. Up to the end of last month, the number of US troops passing through Shannon had totalled almost 269,000. This made us shamefully complicit in the waging of an illegal war.
Moreover, there was the worrying question of the Gulf Stream Five jet which had been permitted continued use of Shannon Airport facilities. He was aware that citizens of this State had reported their suspicions and he was aware of the detailed evidence from outside the State about the purposes to which this aircraft was put.
Paul Bradford (FG) said the US was devaluing itself by the way it was conducting its activities in Iraq.
John Minihan (PD) welcomed reports that the British Foreign Office would be contacting the US administration on behalf of the EU, seeking information on the existence of clandestine CIA prison camps in eastern Europe.
The Government amendment was passed by 28 votes to 19.