John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

May I finish by saying this? I will be brief. We have to be very careful when Dáil Éireann votes on something that it is the democratic view of the Irish people. It is the democratic view of the Irish people to elect those who make the call in Dáil Éireann. One can say that 56% of people do not want to pay their water rates, yet those charges have been introduced. I would imagine that if one took an opinion poll - perhaps Mr. Smyth has done so - the vast majority of Irish people would probably still have no truck with anything to do with Iraq.

I have spoken at meetings throughout the country, including my own constituency, and have met support groups in Shannon. People may not use the word "complicit" in helping the Americans, but they certainly do not see it as any form of neutrality that we allow all these troops and arms to pass through Shannon. In 2013, a Hercules aircraft armed with cannons, was photographed there. It was flying out to Iraq or Afghanistan, so we are anything but neutral in that sense.