US military planes may use airport, says Cullen

There will be no change in Government policy on US military aircraft landing at Shannon Airport, the Minister for Transport Mr…

There will be no change in Government policy on US military aircraft landing at Shannon Airport, the Minister for Transport Mr Cullen, said yesterday.

The Minister was speaking in light of the news that 120,000 US soldiers have passed through Shannon so far this year, the same figure that passed through in all of last year.

The practice of American military aircraft stopping off in Shannon has been a source of major controversy in the past year. But Mr Cullen is adamant that the Government will not be changing tack.

"In terms of refuelling facilities at Shannon, that has always been the position of the Government and we do it for many different countries," Mr Cullen told reporters when he visited Mullingar to turn the sod on a new N52 Mullingar bypass.

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"That position hasn't changed. If those facilities are required, the Government has always facilitated them."

Asked if there was an upper limit on the numbers of soldiers who could pass through Shannon - if, say, a million soldiers could pass through - he replied: "Well, if we could take [ that] many, people in Shannon [ in] terms of business would be delighted to have them.

"Let's keep this in context. These are simply planes landing in Shannon, refuelling, and moving on."