BRENDAN BUTLER.
Madam, - In the course of a report by Joe Humphreys in the Irish Times (December 28th) the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Brian Cowen, is quoted as remarking that the "arrangements that there are in relation to airspace and the use of our airports (by US military aircraft) are the same arrangements that have been in place for decades".
The N.G.O. Peace Alliance would like these secretive "arrangements" to be published and openly debated as part of our present foreign policy. Indeed, this is the first time that the Irish public have become aware that all our airports are and have been made available to the US. military as part of these "arrangements".
As Irish citizens we are entitled to know whether there are are limits or parameters to these "arrangements".
Do these "arrrangements allow US military to refuel at Irish Airports only when they operate as part of a UN mandate? Are military exercises in Irish airspace included?
Would these "arrangements" facilitate US military aircraft if the US - as they have openly threatened to do - invaded Iraq without a UN mandate?
Indeed "arrangements" such as allowing foreign military aircraft to use another country's airspace and civilian airports are very often the subject of bilateral treaties between countries.
Are there treaty documents or indeed any documentation in existence relating to these "arrangements" or are they dependent on the whims of an Irish Minister for Foreign Affairs eager to win political, economic or social approval from successive US governments. - Yours, etc.,
BRENDAN BUTLER. Co-ordinator, N.G.O. Peace Alliance, c/o 134 Phibsboro Road, Dublin 7